Shakespeare: The Essential Guide to the Plays

A beautifully illustrated reference to Shakespeare and his time.

Four centuries after he penned them, Shakespeare's plays continue to delight audiences and readers worldwide. Shakespeare: The Essential Guide to the Plays is a stimulating and accessible guide to all of Shakespeare's known works as well as a revealing study of the man himself.

More than 250 full-color photographs, artworks, illustrations, charts and diagrams highlight the concise text, which was written by an international team of Shakespearean scholars. The book includes:

• The personal and professional life of Shakespeare
• Plot summaries and character lists for each play
• Coverage of every history, comedy, tragedy and romance in the Shakespeare canon, from the well known (Hamlet, Othello, A Midsummer Night's Dream) to the more obscure (King John, Pericles, Cymbeline)
• A comprehensive reference section.

Each work's themes, imagery, language and historical context are discussed in accessible language. Sidebars give at-a-glance information on plots, characters, sources, settings and famous quotations. Detailed diagrams, charts and tables shed light on the plays' characters and their interrelationships and illustrate the factual context of the plots. Finally, carefully selected images of stage and film productions from different cultures and historical periods convey the drama, pathos and humor of Shakespeare's works and provide clear evidence of the universality and modernity of his centuries-old creations.

A.D. Cousins is a fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities and a member of the Order of Australia. He has been a visiting adjunct professor at the Renaissance Studies Center at the University of Massachusetts and a visiting scholar at Princeton and Penn State. He is the author of eight books, including monographs on Shakespeare's non-dramatic verse.