This is the fifth volume of a projected translation into English of all twelve of Jean Racine's plays. Geoffrey Alan Argent's translations faithfully convey all the urgency and keen psychological insight of Racine's dramas, and the coiled strength of his verse, while breathing new vigor into the time-honored form of the "heroic" couplet.

Complementing this translation are the Discussion and the Notes and Commentary--particularly detailed and extensive for this volume, Britannicus being by far Racine's most historically informed play. Also noteworthy is Argent's...