The Prince of Denmark (Paperback). This item is unavailable.The Prince of Denmark (Paperback)

This newly revised fictional re-writing of the Hamlet story is set in a time somewhere between the Scandinavian Dark Ages - out of which the original tale of Hamlet came - and the Renaissance society of Shakespeare's play. / Graham Holderness begins at the end of Shakespeare's play, where the Norwegian prince Fortinbras takes over the empty throne of Denmark. It then backtracks to the year of Hamlet's birth, and the great duel fought between his father King Amled and Fortinbras' father Prince Fortenbrasse. / In the light of this history, as a new ruler takes over Denmark after Hamlet's death, the conflicts and alliances between ancient Viking chivalry, Renaissance realpolitik and Christian forgiveness are dramatically explored.

The noted critic Graham Holderness is the author or editor of some 50 books, with overall sales of tens of thousands. His work can be divided into three strands: (1) literary criticism, theory and scholarship, especially in Shakespeare studies; (2) the pioneering of an innovative new method of 'creative criticism'; and (3) creative writing in fiction, poetry and drama. His poetry collection Craeft received a Poetry Book Society award in 2002. His play Wholly Writ was performed at Shakespeare's Globe, and by Royal Shakespeare company actors in Stratford-upon-Avon. His publishers have included Penguin, Cambridge University Press, Bloomsbury, Palgrave Macmillan, Routledge, Manchester University Press, and Lion Books. / In addition to his fascinating study of 'Smithfield Stories' Meat, Murder, Malfeasance, Medicine and Martyrdom (EER, 2019) EER will also publish his other new study, Textual Shakespeare, and a new edition of The Prince of Denmark in Spring 2020.