An introduction to Shakespeare's life and work which focuses on what we know, assessing the differing theories and avoiding speculation. It offers a reassessment of Shakespeare and his creative output from his earliest work through his 'mature' drama and the late plays.

This volume in the Writers Lives series offers a reassessment of Shakespeare and his creative output from his earliest work through his 'mature' drama and the late plays, taking into account our current knowledge of Shakespeare's biography and consensus on key textual, critical and theatrical issues. William Baker offers a comprehensive but accessible introduction to Shakespeare's work and places it in the contexts of what is known of his life and activities. Avoiding speculation of a biographical, critical or textual nature, he focuses instead on an account of what is known of Shakespeare and his achievement at the end of the first decade of the twenty-first century.

Baker offers an introduction and reassessment of the life and works of William Shakespeare for undergraduate and graduate students and general readers. He considers Shakespeare's output from his earliest work through his mature dramas and late plays within the context of his life, and focuses on an account of what is known about him, rather than speculation about what is not. He reviews different theories relating to Shakespeare's life and work, including his assumed Catholic connections and associations with the Earls of Essex and Southampton, with an emphasis on the facts. He also focuses on genre, with discussion of The Merchant of Venice, Twelfth Night, Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2, Henry V, Hamlet, Measure for Measure, and The Tempest as representative examples." -Eithne O'Leyne, BOOK NEWS, Inc.