Penguin Classics: Julius Caesar

'Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war, That this foul deed shall smell above the earth With carrion men, groaning for burial'

Fearful that Caesar will become a tyrant, his friends plot to assassinate him in order to save Rome. But the conspirators' high principles clash with personal malice and ambition, and as they vie to manipulate the mob, the nation is plunged into bloody civil war. A taut, profound drama exploring power and betrayal, Julius Caesarexposes the chasm between public appearance, political rhetoric and bitter reality.

'If we wish to know the force of human genius we should read Shakespeare.' William Hazlitt

General Introduction on Shakespeare and the Elizabethan theatre by Stanley Wells
Edited by Norman Sanders with an introduction by Martin Wiggins