Shakespeare: The World as a Stage

‘A joy from first to last…An accessible, exhilarating biography that’s shot through with Bryson’s trademark humour and irreverence…Tremendous.’ Time Out William Shakespeare, the most celebrated poet in the English language, left behind nearly a million words of text, but his biography has long been a thicket of wild supposition arranged around scant facts. With a steady hand and his trademark wit, Bill Bryson sorts through this colorful muddle to reveal the man himself.

Reviews A brilliantly funny and gently insightful travel guide to 16th century England. Bryson is great at picking out of the morass of Elizabethan fact the small details that illuminate and amuse. He also uncovers from the world that surrounded the theatre some fascinating examples of Elizabethan eccentricity. As an abbreviated tour around the world of Shakespeare, this could hardly be bettered.’ Sunday Times ‘An accessible, sensible Life of Shakespeare, surely a fine gift for someone encountering Shakespeare for the first time. Bryson is shrewd and as funny as you’d expect…he sets down all the important bits of evidence, and assesses them in a measured scholarly way. He’s good value too.’ Daily Telegraph ‘Bryson uses an inimitably light touch and squeezes a vast subject down to manageable proportions!he is a warm and funny guide through the whole complicated morass of Shakespearean scholarship.’ Financial Times ‘Bill Bryson offers us a brisk summary of all the things we’d like to know, but don’t. Enough to be absorbed in an entertaining evening.’ Daily Mail ‘Bill Bryson’s short biography of Shakespeare is a delight. fresh, concise and sharply illuminting!Bryson is brilliant at picking out just a few telltale details to paint a bigger picture. A gem of a book, likely to be useful to both beginners and to seasoned Shakespeareans alike.’ Mail on Sunday Author Biography Bill Bryson’s many books include, most recently ‘The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid’ as well as ‘A Short History of Nearly Everything’, ‘I’m a Stranger Here Myself’, ‘A Walk in the Woods’, ‘Neither Here Nor There’, ‘Made in America’, and ‘Notes from a Small Island’. He edited ‘The Best American Travel Writing 2000’. Born in Des Moines, he now lives in Norfolk with his wife and four children.

Author Biography

Bill Bryson’s many books include, most recently ‘The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid’ as well as ‘A Short History of Nearly Everything’, ‘I’m a Stranger Here Myself’, ‘A Walk in the Woods’, ‘Neither Here Nor There’, ‘Made in America’, and ‘Notes from a Small Island’. He edited ‘The Best American Travel Writing 2000’. Born in Des Moines, he now lives in Norfolk with his wife and four children.