u003cpu003eu003cbu003eEdited, introduced and annotated by Cedric Watts, M.A., Ph.D., Emeritus Professor of English, University of Sussex.u003c/bu003eu003cbru003e u003c/pu003e u003cpu003eRichard II is one of Shakespeare's finest works: lucid, eloquent, and boldly structured. It can be seen as a tragedy, or a historical play, or a political drama, or as one part of a vast dramatic cycle which helped to generate England's national identity. Today, to some of us, Richard II may appear conservative; but, in Shakespeare's day, it could appear subversive: 'I am Richard II', declared an indignant Queen Elizabeth.u003c/pu003e u003cpu003eNumerous recent revivals in the theatre and on screen have demonstrated the enduring power and poignancy of this drama of the downfall of an egoistic but pitiable monarch.u003c/pu003e u003cpu003eRichard II is the seventeenth volume in the Wordsworth Classics' Shakespeare Series, in which each volume has been freshly edited by Cedric Watts.u003c/pu003e