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Miscellaneous Henry V, War Criminal? & Other Shakespeare Puzzles by John Sutherland & Cedric Watts $8.95 / Univ. of Oxford Press / 2000 If you have ever wondered how it was possible for Desdemona to deliver three important speeches after she had been murdered by Othello, or why there were numerous references to striking clocks in Julius Caesar, you will find this lighthearted yet erudite offering an off-beat foray into the world's most familiar oeuvre. In these 30 witty essays, the authors examine the unanswered questions, contradictions, temporal improbabilities, and apparent goofs perpetrated by the Bard in 17 of his best-known plays. Did Cleopatra "cook the books" regarding Egypt's wealth when Rome came a-calling? Was Oberon cuckolded when Bottom spent that midsummer's night with Titania, ass' head and all? Just how old is Juliet? And why would Henry V order the execution of 1,500 French soldiers-not once, but twice-even though the battle of Agincourt was already won, and that by doing so would have amounted to a highly questionable and nightmarish slaughter? Perhaps all is not what it seems, for what emerges from these pages is a fresh appreciation of Shakespeare's genius through our understanding (and misunderstanding) of how his plays were performed, his use of language to compress time and events, and what English audiences inherently understood without the aid of footnotes and university lectures. But what ultimately makes Henry V, War Criminal? such an enjoyable read is that it skillfully avoids the political correctness and over-analysis that pervades much Shakespearean scholarship, without compromising its desire to make these works accessible to even the most casual theater-goer. For under ten dollars this book is not only a bargain, it is a worthwhile investment. —Charles Matza

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