Shakespeare's play about the weak and despicable King John, who tries to fend off the royal claims of Arthur, Duke of Brittany, who is supported by the King of France. In spite of the support of Faulconbridge, John alienates the English nobility and runs afoul of the Pope. In the end he is poisoned and his son Henry III becomes King.

In the late 1100s, thirteen-year-old Will, the future Lord of Shackley, is exiled to Sherwood Forest, where he meets Robin Hood and the Merry Men and bands with them to try retake Shackley Castle.

The Bard's fascinating historical and political study of a monarch's struggle to keep his crown gets special treatment from the internationally acclaimed Folger Library, which provides material from its collection for the illustrations. The literary series features brief and simple instructions to Shakespeare's language, scene-by-scene plot summaries, explanatory notes for archaic expressions, and an essay discussing the play.

Recounts the legend of Robin Hood, who plundered the king's purse and poached his deer and whose generosity endeared him to the poor. The illustrations for this series were created by Scott McKowen, who, with his wife Christina Poddubiuk, operates Punch & Judy Inc., a company specializing in design and illustration for theater and performing arts. Their projects often involve research into the visual aspects of historical settings and characters....

The privileged life of Mahelt Marshal, the daughter of England's greatest knight, is shattered when her father falls foul of the volatile and dangerous King John.

In twelfth-century England, Matty grows up to be a master falconer, able to communicate with the devoted birds who later help her and Fynn, also known as Robin Hood, to foil Prince John's plot to steal the crown.

All Saint's Eve, 1211. An overweight but wealthy nobleman, desperate for an heir, dies at the celebration feast he's thrown in his own hall. Is it a natural death, or at the hands of his reluctant new wife? Sabin de Gifford, an apothecary and healer of note, is called to examine the body, and concludes that he died of a spasm to the heart. But she is troubled, all the same, and beset by suspicions. Did the man really die of a heart attack? Or...

Sir Josse d'Aquin is summoned to assist the beleaguered King John in the 17th--and final--Hawkenlye mystery. September, 1216. A foreign army has invaded England. The country is divided. Some support the rebel barons and Prince Louis of France; others remain loyal to the king. His rule under threat, King John summons Sir Josse d'Acquin to support him. But can Sir Josse save the king from himself? Meanwhile, Josse's daughter Meggie is summoned to Hawkenlye...