Shakespeare

From bestselling author Bill Bryson comes this compelling short biography of William Shakespeare, our greatest dramatist and poet. Examining centuries of myths, half-truths and downright lies, Bill Bryson makes sense of the man behind the...

'If music be the food of love, play on,Give me excess of it'Separated from her twin brother Sebastian after a shipwreck, Viola disguises herself as a boy to serve the Duke Orsino. Wooing a countess on his behalf, she is stunned to find herself the object...

Hamlet remains the most-studied of all Shakespeare's great tragedies. This collection of newly-commissioned essays gives readers an overview of past critical views of the play as well as new writing about the play from today's leading scholars. The...

Read Shakespeare's plays in all their brilliance-and understand what every word means! Don't be intimidated by Shakespeare! These popular guides make the Bard's plays accessible and enjoyable.Each No Fear guide contains:The complete text of the...

Shakespeare's Sonnets are universally loved and much-quoted throughout the world, while debates still rage as to the identity of the Dark Lady and how autobiographical the sonnets really are. First published in 1997 to much critical acclaim, the Sonnets...

'Now is the winter of our discontent Made glorious summer by this sun of York'Shakespeare's final drama of the Wars of the Roses cycle begins as the dust settles on England after bloody civil war, and the bitter hunchback Richard, brother of the king,...

In the heat of renaissance Italy two houses are at war. One son and one daughter from the opposing families break this bitter conflict by falling in love. Yet, in this whirlwind of enmity, Romeo and Juliet's passion agitates rather than unites the...

'The work of Shakespeare is virtually infinite' Jorge Luis BorgesA jealous king, convinced that his wife has been unfaithful and is having another man's baby, imprisons her and puts her on trial. The child is abandoned to die, but when she is found and...

'I pity the man who cannot enjoy Shakespeare' George Bernard ShawThe beautiful and witty Katherina has sworn never to accept the demands of any would-be husband. But when she is pursued by the wily Petruchio, it seems that she has finally met her match...

The Complete Works of Shakespeare contains the recognized canon of the bard's plays, and his sonnets and poems. The texts were edited by the late Professor Peter Alexander, making it one of the most authoritative editions, recognized the world over for...

Edited, introduced and annotated by Cedric Watts, M.A., Ph.D., Emeritus Professor of English, University of Sussex. The Wordsworth Classics' Shakespeare Series presents a newly-edited sequence of William Shakespeare's works. The textual editing takes...

Shakespeare's gentle melancholy, enlivened by a comic sub-plot of considerable accomplishment, has long made Twelfth Night a favourite with Shakespearian audiences.Part of the Macmillan Collector's Library; a series of stunning, clothbound, pocket sized...

This Roman play is one of Shakespeare's last tragedies, best known for its political and military themes. Its hero, Coriolanus, is a proud General who does not hesitate to show his arrogant and outspoken contempt of the Roman rabble. The Tribunes banish...

The Tempest is one of Shakespeare's most popular plays, both in the classroom and in the theatre, and this revision brings the Arden 3 edition right up-to-date. A completely new section of the introduction discusses new thinking about Shakespeare's...

'Shakespeare's play is death-haunted from the start, and its self-glorifying lovers exist in a dream of passion' GuardianA battle-hardened soldier, Antony is one of the three leaders of the Roman world. But he is also a man in the grip of an...

This second edition of Othello has a new, illustrated introduction by leading American scholar Ayanna Thompson, which addresses such key issues as race, religion and gender, as well as looking at ways in which the play has been adapted in more recent...

Set in a city torn apart by feuds and gang warfare, Romeo and Juliet is a dazzling combination of passion and hatred, bawdy comedy and high tragedy.Part of the Macmillan Collector's Library; a series of stunning, clothbound, pocket sized classics with...

This richly annotated edition takes a fresh look at the first part of Shakespeare's second tetralogy of history plays, showing how it relates to the other plays in the sequence. Forker places the play in its political context, discussing its relation to...

Edited, introduced and annotated by Cedric Watts, M.A., Ph.D., Emeritus Professor of English, University of Sussex. The Wordsworth Classics' Shakespeare's Series presents a newly-edited sequence of William Shakespeare's works. The textual editing takes...

Edited, Introduced and Annotated by Cedric Watts, M.A., Ph.D., Emeritus Professor of English, University of Sussex. The Wordsworth Classics' Shakespeare Series, with Romeo and Juliet, Henry V and The Merchant of Venice as its inaugural volumes,...

1606: William Shakespeare and the Year of Lear traces Shakespeare's life and times from the autumn of 1605, when he took an old and anonymous Elizabethan play, The Chronicle History of King Leir, and transformed it into his most searing tragedy, King...

Read Shakespeare's plays in all their brilliance-and understand what every word means! Don't be intimidated by Shakespeare! These popular guides make the Bard's plays accessible and enjoyable.Each No Fear guide contains:The complete text of the...

Richard III is one of the great Shakespearean characters and roles. James R Siemon examines the attraction of this villain to audiences and focuses on how beguiling, even funny, he can be, especially in the earlier parts of the play. Siemon also...

Learn the entire works of one of the greatest writers of the English language in The Shakespeare Book.Part of the fascinating Big Ideas series, this book tackles tricky topics and themes in a simple and easy to follow format. Learn about the works of...

From the Royal Shakespeare Company - a modern, definitive edition of Shakespeare's epic retelling of the Wars of the Roses. With an expert introduction by Sir Jonathan Bate, this unique edition presents a historical overview of Henry VI in performance,...

Macbeth is one of Shakespeare's most performed and studied tragedies. This major new Arden edition offers students detailed on-page commentary notes highlighting meaning and theatrical ideas and themes, as well as an illustrated, lengthy introduction...

Hamlet is not only one of Shakespeare's greatest plays, but also the most fascinatingly problematical tragedy in world literature. First performed around 1600, this a gripping and exuberant drama of revenge, rich in contrasts and conflicts. Its violence...

This book contains everything you need to write better A-Level and Undergraduate English essays on William Shakespeare's 'Hamlet', all presented in a helpful and entertaining way to make study and revision easier. There are clear notes on the...

Read Shakespeare's plays in all their brilliance--and understand what every word means! Don't be intimidated by Shakespeare! These popular guides make the Bard's plays accessible and enjoyable. Each No Fear guide contains The complete text of the...

From the Royal Shakespeare Company - a modern, definitive edition of Shakespeare's magical late play. With an expert introduction by Sir Jonathan Bate, this unique edition presents a historical overview of Cymbeline in performance, takes a detailed look...

This edition of one of Shakespeare's best known and most frequently performed plays argues for Julius Caesar as a new kind of political play, a radical departure from contemporary practice, combining fast action and immediacy with compelling rhetorical...

"The text of any Shakespeare play is a living negotiable entity: scholarship and theatre practice work together to keep the plays alive and vividly present." - Greg Doran, RSC Artistic Director Emeritus Developed in partnership with the Royal...

Critically acclaimed as one of Shakespeare's most complex and intriguing plays, Twelfth Night is a classic romantic comedy of mistaken identities. In recent years it has returned to the centre of critical debate surrounding gender and sexuality. The...

Look out for a new book from Garry Wills, What the Qur'an Meant, coming fall 2017."Riveting . . . a double-barreled salvo that hits two bull's-eyes." -The New York Times Book ReviewThis dazzling study of the three operas that Giuseppe Verdi adapted from...

From the Royal Shakespeare Company - a modern, definitive edition of Shakespeare's bleakest and most profound tragedy. With an expert introduction by Sir Jonathan Bate, this unique edition presents a historical overview of King Lear in performance, takes...

Shakespeare's Sonnets are as important and vital today as they were when first published four hundred years ago. Perhaps no collection of verse before or since has so captured the imagination of readers and lovers; certainly no poem has come under such...

Oxford School Shakespeare is an acclaimed edition especially designed for students, with accessible on-page notes and explanatory illustrations, clear background information, and rigorous but accessible scholarly credentials. A Midsummer Night's Dream is...

'The finest, most representative instance of what Shakespeare can do' Harold BloomPrince Hal, the son of King Henry IV, spends his time in idle pleasure with dissolute friends, among them the roguish Sir John Falstaff. But when the kingdom is threatened...

Often described as one of Shakespeare's 'problem plays', Measure for Measure explores issues of mercy and justice in corrupt Vienna. The Duke makes his strict moralistic deputy, Angelo, temporary leader of Vienna, while he disguises himself as a friar to...

'The Mona Lisa of literature' T. S. EliotIn Shakespeare's verbally dazzling and eternally enigmatic exploration of conscience, madness and the nature of humanity, a young prince meets his father's ghost in the middle of the night, who accuses his own...