The Shakespeare Handbook: The Essential Companion to Shakespeare's Works, Life and Times

Essays discuss the background, themes, and characters of Shakespeare's plays

Public, junior and senior high school, and college libraries looking for an attractive general guide will want to own this book. Scholars will find little that is new; the book's value is as a background compendium for students and autodidacts. The treatment of individual plays is skimpy (inexplicably, inordinate space is devoted to a listing of the dramatis personae in each play), as is the bibliography. But other features, such as inserts on special topics (for example, women on the stage) and a discussion of contemporary film versions and adaptations, suit the book to its intended audience. Margaret Hallissy, Long Island Univ., C.W. Post Campus, Greenvale, N.Y.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.