Hundreds of years have passed since William Shakespeare's time. He has left behind nearly a million words of text, but his life is still a mystery. This book is an engaging introduction to a subject that students will certainly encounter many times throughout their education-and their lives. Lucid language and dramatic illustrations re-create the Bard's world of kings and queens, fairies and potions, and bloody beheadings. It imparts an amazing amount of vivid, interesting material about place, period and background of Shakespeare. This sweeping account is a biography, a history, and a retelling of some of Shakespeare's most famous plays-all in one approachable volume.

Salient Features: • Shakespeare's Early Life • Life as Playwright and Actor • Theatre Companies • Style of Presentation • Last Years of Life • England of Shakespeare's Days • Drama in Shakespeare's Days • Shakespeare's Greatness as a Poet • Shakespeare's Influence • Works of Shakespeare in detail • Principal Facts of Shakespeare's Life

Introduction PART 1 Chapter 1 EARLY LIFE Birth Parents and Siblings Boyhood and Schooling Physical Appearance Marriage and Children Chapter 2 LOST YEARS Chapter 3 LIFE AS PLAYWRIGHT AND ACTOR Career in Theatre Criticism by Anti-Stratfordians Chapter 4 HIS FIRST POEMS Chapter 5 THEATRE COMPANIES The Globe Theatre The King's Men Chapter 6 A HEAD FOR BUSINESS Chapter 7 SONNETS Chapter 8 STYLE OF PRESENTATION Soliloquy Chapter 9 LAST YEARS OF LIFE PART 2 Chapter 10 ENGLAND OF SHAKESPEARE'S DAYS Chapter 11 DRAMA IN ELIZABETHAN SOCIETY Theatre and Stage in Elizabethan Era Costumes, Lights and Sound Effects Chapter 12 DRAMA IN SHAKESPEARE'S DAYS Shakespeare's Plots and Characters Critics' Ranking of Shakespeare's Plays Chapter 13 SHAKESPEARE AND DANCE Chapter 14 SHAKESPEARE'S GREATNESS AS A POET Reasons for Shakespeare's Popularity Chapter 15 SHAKESPEARE'S FOUR PERIODS The First Period The Second Period The Third Period The Fourth Period Poems Categorisation of Shakespeare's Works Chapter 16 SHAKESPEARE'S INFLUENCE Chapter 17 AUTHORSHIP List of Plays with Probable Date of Writing Principal Facts of Shakespeare's Life Chief Facts of the World during Shakespeare's Period Questions Answers