A major new edition of a sometimes overlooked play, by a leading global scholar Accessibly written, illustrated Introduction Modernized text with on-page notes provides extensive comment and context for all readers

This Roman play is one of Shakespeare's last tragedies, best known for its political and military themes. Its hero, Coriolanus, is a proud General who does not hesitate to show his arrogant and outspoken contempt of the Roman rabble. The Tribunes banish him and he raises an army to take his revenge on Rome. He finally concedes to the pleas of his mother to spare the city and leaves only to be publicly killed by his former allies. Peter Holland is a former Director of the Shakespeare Institute in Stratford upon Avon and President of the Shakespeare Association of America. He is a pre-eminent international scholar. His comprehensive Introduction and commentary notes open up the language, themes and ideas in this complex yet richly rewarding play for the student and teacher. The play is discussed in its historical and critical contexts and its theatrical history is analysed too.

"This is a mighty powerhouse of a work: passionately outward-looking in its engagement with the play's afterlife in theatre, poetry and film ... Holland's style is delightfully engaging and inclusive ... This is a remarkable piece of scholarship, and an indispensable work for anyone wishing to understand Coriolanus better." - Around the Globe

"Holland’s edition offers an idiosyncratic and entertaining version of Coriolanus that is suited to a play that poses relatively few textual problems, demonstrating that even a play that only exists in one early witness is reproduced differently in each edition, performance and re-reading ... The edition is a triumph of careful work, and testament to the importance of aligning theatrical, linguistic and historical approaches in the careful preparation of an edition." - Editionen in der Kritik

"This is a rich and creatively suggestive Coriolanus edition that does justice to the play as product of a complex social, stage, and literary history and as an equally complex cultural performance text." - Archiv für das Studium der neueren Sprachen und Literaturen