Shakespeare - Bill Bryson

Shakespeare eh? Bloody hell. What can be said of William Shakespeare that hasn't already been said? The greatest Englishmen who ever lived? Possibly. The greatest writer we've ever produced? Probably. The most important and most influential wordsmith ever? Almost definitely. There can't be many people who haven't heard of him, most could name and précis a dozen or so of his works even if they've barely read a page or watched a scene. Every English Literature student in this country will have been exposed to his plays or sonnets at some point making him surely the most famous and best-known non ... more

Studying English at University and generally having quite an interest in his plays about seeing a couple of them whilst still at secondary school I thought it was about time that I learnt a bit more about the playwright that is William Shakespeare hence my purchase of Bill Bryson’s book ‘Shakespeare’. I’m not saying by the above however that I knew nothing about Shakespeare as a person, as I have visited his houses in Stratford and read a couple of all pieces on him or the ‘conspiracy theories’ surrounding him. I did feel however that I didn’t know enough about his character and due the fact ... more