This 2001 book looks at how British drama and popular entertainment were affected by the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars.

This book explores the revivals of Shakespeare's history plays during the Victorian period, as staged by the famous actor-manager Charles Kean. Between 1852 and 1859, Kean produced celebrated productions of Henry V, Henry VIII, King John, Macbeth and Richard II, renowned for their unprecendented attention to antiquarian detail in sets, costumes, and properties (many of which are shown in the book's illustrations). These productions provided audiences with an unparalleled opportunity to participate in the Victorian obsession with history, especially of the medieval period. Using valuable primary sources, including promptbooks, scenic designs, costume sketches and contemporary reviews, Richard Schoch places mid-Victorian attitudes towards the theatre in the context of major intellectual and political movements of the age. The book will be of interest to scholars and students of theatre history, Shakespeare studies and Victorian culture.

Reissuing works originally published between 1971 and 1981, this compact set offers an outstanding collection of scholarship devoted to 19th Century, Victorian, theatre. A small set of performance history and criticism, this set includes a biography of Henry Irving, a look at the rise of the status of a career as actor, and a consideration of the advent of dramatic criticism. These volumes present together a lively picture of the development of the contemporary theatre.