**A landmark American drama that inspired a classic film and a Broadway
revival--featuring an introduction by David Mamet
**
A blistering character study and an examination of the American melting
pot and the judicial system that keeps it in check, Twelve Angry Men
holds at its core a deeply patriotic faith in the U.S. legal system. The
play centers on Juror Eight, who is at first the sole holdout in an 11-1
guilty vote. Eight sets his sights not on proving the other jurors wrong
but rather on getting them to look at the situation in a clear-eyed way
not affected by their personal prejudices or biases. Reginald Rose
deliberately and carefully peels away the layers of artifice from the
men and allows a fuller picture to form of them--and of America, at its
best and worst.
After the critically acclaimed teleplay aired in 1954, this landmark
American drama went on to become a cinematic masterpiece in 1957
starring Henry Fonda, for which Rose wrote the adaptation. More
recently, Twelve Angry Men had a successful, and award-winning, run on
Broadway.
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of
classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700
titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works
throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the
series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and
notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as
up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
