I said it before, but I'll say it again: If The Shakespeare Book existed while I was in high school, I might've appreciated William Shakespeare more. You see, ye old English is not exactly the easiest thing to read if you have no idea of the language. I struggled immensely with Hamlet, and found Romeo & Juliet to be a bore in high school, but with The Shakespeare Book I might actually have a shot at understanding what's happening. After all, the bard had a way of putting a meaning behind a meaning, didn't he? The Shakespeare Book is packed with tidbits of inspirational quotes, character information, basic plot descriptions, etc. It's a colourful, modern representation of what you need to know to fall in love with William Shakespeare's works.

This hardback book is not only informative (incredibly informative for someone who knows less than the basics of Shakespeare), but it's also beautiful (especially if you love pretty books) and the contents are concise and accurate (according to my fiance). Though, I've not yet tested out how much help this book is whilst re-reading some of the plays, I'm certainly going to try when I have some spare time. However, my fiance - a die-hard Shakespeare fan - did approve wholeheartedly of The Shakespeare Book.

In other words, it's a must-have for everyone struggling with Shakespeare or who have a love for Shakespeare.

Review originally posted at:
( )

I've always liked these "Big Ideas Simply Explained" books, but even so I was surprised at how good this book was. It's divided into three parts for the three stages of Shakespeare's career, and each play (plus the three long poems and the sonnets all together) has its own section, between four and eight pages long. First there's a summary page, which also includes a timeline (handy for identifying famous speeches and scenes) and dramatis personae, then some description and analysis, along with a history highlighting some notable productions. This is a terrific reference for the Shakespeare nerd or teacher - but I do have to say that it suffers in digital format. It's designed in two-page spreads, and it ought to be read that way. ( )

There were quite a few things that I learned from this book, especially about the plays that aren't as well known. I liked the graphic synopsis but I think the abbreviated synopsis and the detailed synopsis could have been combined. Three times going over gist of the play was once too much for me even though I did become more familiar with his body of work and not just his major plays. ( )