More than four centuries of English history are presented in Shakespeare's English history plays. From the chronological point of view he started "his" national history from the reign of king John. Two tetralogies embrace consequtlvely the reigns of Richard II, Henry IV, Henry V, Edward IV, and Richard III. The cycle ends with the reign of Henry VIII. The author analyses the historical background of Shakespeare's English history plays concentrating on the events which are important for the dramatic structure of the respective works. She points out some of the anachronisms and historical misunderstandings, stressing the fact that the ever-present wide sociological background represents Shakespeare's contemporaries - ordinary people from the street. We find certain regularities in the plays e.g. the early ones contain more historical distortions, this Is possibly because Shakespeare was still a young and inexperienced playwright who seemed to be continually Improving his dramatic skills. We should also remember that he was somewhat limited by, among other things the structure of the theatre, the length of the performance, the number of actors. Despite many historical irregularities in Shakespeare's English history plays, often a result of his inaccurate historiographical sources and very strict Elizabethan censorship, they constitute for many people a "true" history of England. Zadanie pt. „Digitalizacja i udostępnienie w Cyfrowym Repozytorium Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego kolekcji czasopism naukowych wydawanych przez Uniwersytet Łódzki” nr 885/P-DUN/2014 dofinansowane zostało ze środków MNiSW w ramach działalności upowszechniającej naukę