William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was an English poet, playwright, and actor. He is generally considered the greatest dramatist of all time, the greatest English writer, and one of the greatest writers in any language. Shakespeare is best known for his plays, many written for his own acting troupe, which are still regularly staged today. 1 Henry VI is generally felt to be one of Shakespeare's earliest plays. It is also felt to be one of his weakest. It deals with the English expulsion from France at the end of the Hundred Years' War and is most notable for its rabidly anti-French stance and demonization of Joan of Arc. This book is in the Deseret Alphabet, a phonetic alphabet for writing English developed in the mid-19th century at the University of Deseret (now the University of Utah).