Henry the Fourth and Henry the Fifth through Shakespeare's Eyes

He dreamed of changing history with victories and conquests, but changed it — with his death. The young prince Henry leads a wayward life with the jester Falstaff and other friends. But then his father, Henry the Fourth, dies. And the new king, Henry the Fifth, unexpectedly grabs hold of power. He believes: God and England expect him to conquer France and, at the same time, the hand and heart of the French princess Catherine, the daughter of the Mad King... “If it is a vice to desire glory without measure, then, I swear, I am the most terrible sinner!” Aleksandra Marinina offers an exciting historical investigation into why rulers triumph on the battlefields but lose to their own demons. The main witness and expert is the genius William Shakespeare.