Shakespeare Into Film

What a relief! Just a few years ago the rate of publication of books about Shakespeare on film began, for the first time, to exceed the number of new films derived from Shakespeare's plays. If in one respect this suggests a field of study that has come of age, it also presents an immense problem for those who might want to teach both the original text and its adaptations into film. Most of these recent books, it seems to me, expound particular theories of film or of adaptation of works of literature and are becoming increasingly specialized, intended for a fairly narrow readership of specialists. Here at last is a sensibly-organized and well-written guide to the materials available to researchers, students and teachers. Teachers, especially, will find something as mundane as writing a syllabus far less taxing as a result of this helpful, comprehensive work (of course, no book of its scope could hope to cover everything, but it uses its pages well). For those of us who value elegance of presentation and utility, this book, and what I assume will be periodic updated editions, will be indispensable. Besides, Kenneth Rothwell's engaging preface is alone worth the price.