'Enjoyable, lively ... such a pleasure to read ... renders the drama of Shakespeare's contemporaries more than fringe entertainment' Independent

Shakespeare is one of the greatest of all English figures, considered a genius for all time. Yet as this enthralling book shows, he was at heart a man of the theatre, one among a community of artists in the teeming world of Renaissance London - from the enigmatic spy Christopher Marlowe to the self-aggrandizing Ben Jonson, from the actor Richard Burbage to the brilliant Thomas Middleton. By bringing Shakespeare's contemporaries to life, Shakespeare & Co throws fresh new light on the man himself.

'Warm, cheerful, generous ... Wells sketches a whole gallery of Shakespeare's fellow playwrights ... He brings each vividly to life, making you feel that you've met them personally in some Blackfriars tavern' Simon Callow

'It was a time and place teeming with excitement, anecdote and incident, and Wells, in this richly enjoyable work, brings it to life with a novelist's sense of the telling detail' Dominic Dromgoole

'Enthralling' Observer

'This is one of the most sane and exciting books on Shakespeare I have read for a long time' Scotland on Sunday

About the Author
Stanley Wells has devoted most of life to teaching, editing and writing about Shakespeare and his contemporaries. Chairman of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust and Honorary Governor Emeritus of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, he is also Emeritus Professor of Shakespeare Studies of the University of Birmingham. He is General Editor of the Penguin and Oxford editions of Shakespeare and co-editor of the Oxford Companion to Shakespeare. His recent account of Shakespeare and his after-life, Shakespeare For All Time, was described as the best book about Shakespeare for a generation.


Book Information
ISBN 9780141017136
Author Stanley Wells
Format Paperback
Page Count 304
Imprint Penguin Books Ltd
Publisher Penguin Books Ltd
Weight(grams) 220g
Dimensions(mm) 194mm * 126mm * 20mm