William Shakespeare: The Extraordinary Life of the Most Successful Writer of All Time

found the book to be enjoyable and very helpful..for I am working on a script about Shakespeare...very inspiring.

This is a picture book with a full accompanying text. The text is appropriate, but the real strength of the book is the pictures. The pictures are current photographic work (not reproductions of period paintings or etchings) intended to portray Shakespeare's life and times. This book is not a scholarly biography as such, but a pictoral representation of the setting of Shakespeare's life. The author of this book is apparently a subscriber to the tradition of Stratford's Shakspere as the author of the plays and the biographical details that are included are from this point of view. This though is much broader that just Shakespeare (a good idea for a book of this introductory nature since authentic details regarding Shakespeare are so sparce) and it includes significant information about many other historical figures, actors and theater owners of the period, laws and customs. I strongly recommend it as an introductory biography - there is no better way to get a quick appreciation of the time and the trappings of Shakespeare theatre.