A development that will already be known to every Shakespeare scholar is that the Arden Shakespeare has entered a new cycle. The erstwhile ‘new’ Ardens, now to be known as Arden 2s, are beginning to be replaced with even newer Arden 3s. Arden thus affirms its position as the only Shakespeare series that has maintained a leading position throughout the century, and sets its sights firmly on the next millennium. The new cycle opens with Henry V, edited by T. W. Craik, Titus Andronicus, edited by Jonathan Bate, and Antony and Cleopatra, edited by John Wilders. Every aspect of general editorial policy has been scrutinized and many details have been carefully rethought. The scope of these changes is sufficient to ensure that the Arden 3 series will succeed as a constructive modernization of its predecessors.

The Arden general editors have successively adapted the edition to the needs of the moment while sustaining its corporate identity. On the verso of the first batch of Arden 3 title-pages we are reminded, as before, of the genealogy of general editors from W. J. Craig and R. H. Case to the present team, Richard Proudfoot, Ann Thompson, and David Scott Kastan. Craik's edition of King Henry V is dedicated to the memory of three Shakespeare scholars: amongst them are a former general editor, H. F. Brooks, who perhaps did more than anyone to establish Arden 2 as a fresh edition for post-war readers, and A. R. Humphreys, one of Arden 2's best editors.