William Shakespeare: A Brief Life

This engaging and fresh biography begins by examining how Shakespeare's life turns into myth so comfortably as to seduce even the most sceptical scholar. The early departure, the late return. Public success, private loss. A twilight of plays about family reunions, a death at home in the biggest house in town, the one he walked by as a schoolboy and eyed with envy, or at least ambition. Shakespeare led an orbital life, everything returned to where it began. He even had the dramatic good sense to die on his birthday.

One of the appealing dynamics of the Shakespeare myth is the contrast of his humble beginnings and his lofty achievements, persuading us that genius might blossom anywhere. William Shakespeare: A Brief Life honours these myths, but also explores some of the mysteries: why Shakespeare left Stratford, who he ran with in London, why he put down his pen and at last came home again. Ultimately, the book explores the compelling contrast between the mere fifty two years Shakespeare lived, with the prolonged after lives of his work and his story, which show no sign of ending.

Series Preface

Preface: The Complete Life of William Shakespeare

Chapter 1. Shakespeare's Dead
Chapter 2. Earth Unto Earth
Chapter 3. Shakespeare at School
Chapter 4. Anne Hathaway, aka
Chapter 5. The Lost Years
Chapter 6. Stratford in the Rear View
Chapter 7. Enter London
Chapter 8. Shakespeare, playwright
Chapter 9. Shakespeare, poet
Chapter 10. Shakespeare's Company
Chapter 11. William Shakespeare, gent.
Chapter 12. Shakespeare at Court
Chapter 13. Shakespeare's Globe?
Chapter 14. Shakespeare's Properties
Chapter 15. The King's Man
Chapter 16. The Plague Years
Chapter 17. Shakespeare's Daughters
Chapter 18. The Returning Point
Chapter 19. Shakespeare's Head
Epilogue: Yellow Leaves

Notes
Index