The history play is an extremely popular genre among English playwrights of this century, yet very little research has been done in the field. In particular, the sheer size and complexity of the subject appears to have prevented critics from attempting to arrive at a clear definition of the genre. This book examines the term 'history play' afresh, seeking to define more precisely the scope and the limits of the genre in relation to twentieth-century ideas of and attitudes to history.

Acknowledgements - Introduction: The English History Play in the Twentieth-Century - George Bernard Shaw; Saint Joan - Three Plays of the 1930s: Reginald Berkeley; The Lady with the Lamp, Clifford Bax; The Rose without a Thorn, and Gordon Daviot; Richard of Bordeaux - T.S.Eliot; Murder in the Cathedral - Three Plays of the 1960s: Robert Bolt; A Man for All Seasons, Peter Shaffer; The Royal Hunt of the Sun, and John Osborne; Luther - Edward Bond; Early Morning - Conclusion - Notes - Index