Presents the original text of Shakespeare's play side by side with a modern version, with marginal notes and explanations and full descriptions of each character.

Titus Andronicus returns to Rome after defeating the Goths, bringing with him Queen Tamora, whose eldest son he has sacrificed. The late emperor's son Saturninus is supposed to marry Titus's daughter Lavinia, however, when his brother Bassianus runs away with her instead, Saturninus marries Tamora. Saturninus and Tamora then plot revenge against Titus. Beginning with the rape and mutilation of Lavinia, bloodshed and brutality run rampant, culminating...

Shakespeare’s tragic drama about a Roman general tested by rioting, war, rejection—and his own all-consuming anger.
 
Enraged by the withholding of food, the common people of the Roman Republic are rebelling against the elite. In this battle between plebeians and patricians, Caius Marcius has little patience for those he considers beneath him and his family.
 
After his military victory in the city...

The great Roman general, Titus Andronicus, returns home after fighting Rome's enemies for the last 10 years. He brings along his captives, Tamora, Queen of the Goths, her three sons and Aaron the Moor.Having lost 21 of his 25 sons in the conflict, Titus decides to sacrifice one of Tamora's sons, following Roman customs. He then offers Tamora as a slave to the new Roman emperor, Saturninus. Meanwhile, Saturninus promises Titus to make his daughter...

Based on a pair of comic dramas from ancient Rome, The Comedy of Errors presents a spectacle of pure farce in the spirit of utmost fun and - as the title suggests - hilarious confusion. Two sets of identical twins provide the basis for ongoing incidents of mistaken identity, within a lively plot of quarrels, arrests, and a grand courtroom denouement. One of Shakespeare's earliest dramatic efforts, the play abounds in his trademark conceits, puns,...

John Quincy and Louisa Adams's unexpected journey that changed everything. American Phoenix is the sweeping, riveting tale of a grand historic adventure across forbidding oceans and frozen tundra -- from the bustling ports and towering birches of Boston to the remote reaches of pre-Soviet Russia, from an exile in arctic St. Petersburg to resurrection and reunion among the gardens of Paris. Upon these varied landscapes this Adams and his Eve must find...

Returning to Rome after 3 years in the field, General Marcus Vinicius meets and falls in love with the devout Christian, Lygia. She doesn't want to have anything to do with the warrior. Though Lygia grew up Roman, and as the adopted daughter of a retired general, Lygia is technically a hostage of Rome. Marcus gets Emperor Nero to give her to him for services rendered. Lygia is not happy about this situation, but she falls in love with Marcus anyway....

Biographical information and critical essays accompany Shakespeare's two plays concerning misguided actions and ingratitude.

AD 117: The Roman Empire stretches from Egypt to Spain, and East as far as the Black Sea. But in northern Britain, the relentless onslaught of conquest has ground to a halt in face of the guerrilla tactics of an elusive enemy: the savage and terrifying Picts led by revenge-hungry Pict Warrior Etain. When the Roman legion is ambushed, the seven surviving Romans pledge to rescue their leader and return to Rome to re-group.