Henry IV, Part 1 vs King Henry VIII: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Shakespeare, British and irish drama, English drama, Kings and rulers, English literature, Drama
Henry IV, Part 1
“Following the battle of Shrewsbury (where King Henry and Prince Hal were victorious and Hotspur killed), Rumor spreads the false information that Hotspur was the victor and the King and Prince were killed.”
Presents the original text of Shakespeare's play side by side with a modern version, discusses the author and the theater of his time, and provides quizzes and other study activities.
1 film adaptation
vs
King Henry VIII
“THIS edition provides a modern-spelling text following the principles set forth by Stanley Wells in 'Modernizing Shakespeare's Spelling' in Wells and Taylor, Modernizing Shakespeare's Spelling, with Three Studies in the Text of 'Henry V' (1979) and the procedures used in previous volumes in this series.”
"This is the first fully annotated and comprehensive modern-spelling edition of King Henry VIII - known in its early performances as All is True - for over ten years. It makes full use of current scholarship on the…
The verdict
- Readers rate Henry IV, Part 1 highest: Henry IV, Part 1 3.8 · King Henry VIII 3.5.
- Henry IV, Part 1 has the widest readership — 34291 ratings behind its score.
How to choose
Scores by source
| Henry IV, Part 1 | King Henry VIII | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 3.8 (34291) | 3.5 (10126) |
| Hardcover | 3.9 (54) | — |
| Google Books | 2.0 (2) | — |
| Apple Books | 4.5 (18) | 4.5 (8) |
Reception
| Henry IV, Part 1 | King Henry VIII | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 34291 | 10126 |
| Editions | 782 | 718 |
| Citations | — | 5 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 16609 | 10263 |
| Reading it now | 650 | 305 |
| Written reviews | 2103 | 628 |
| Wikipedia attention | 9387 | 454381 |
| Pages | 122 | 136 |