Introduction : reading Shakespeare historically -- Demanding history -- Shakespeare after theory -- Are we being interdisciplinary yet? -- The text in history -- The mechanics of culture : editing Shakespeare today -- Shakespeare in print -- "Killed with hard opinions" : Oldcastle and Falstaff and the reformed text of 1 Henry IV -- The test as history -- "Proud majesty made a subject" : representing authority on the early modern stage -- "The king hath many marching in his coats," or, What did you do in the war, daddy? -- Is there a class in this (Shakespearean) text? -- Macbeth and the "name of king" -- "The Duke of Milan / and his brave son" : old histories and new in The tempest -- Coda : the closing of the theaters -- "Publike sports" and "publike calamities" : plays, playing, and politics.