The Young Person's Guide to Shakespeare

Anita Ganeri (author)

Pavillion Books, Ltd., UK: 1999; 53pp

ISBN: 1862051569

Genres: drama, factual text, information text, non-fiction, literature

Once again Anita Ganeri has excelled herself. She has a remarkable ability to take complex material and produce a concise, accurate summary that still contains those details that delight the dedicated collector of minutiae.

Coloured illustrations or photographs on every page add considerably to the text, providing as they do pictures of significant places, such as Ann Hathaway's cottage, and examples of great actors playing various characters. The text itself is broken into easily-digestible paragraphs under clear headings, with margin notes that include ‘Did You Know?' boxes. The reader is given a précis of Shakespeare - who he was and his early life - then introduced to the world of Elizabethan theatre and the lifestyle of those involved in it, including a brief history of The Globe playhouse. The Bard's plays are summarised in groups - the histories, the comedies, the dark comedies, the tragedies, the Roman plays and the late plays.

Written in association with the Royal Shakespeare Company, there are also notes on the performance of Shakespeare, as well as a CD recording of good actors performing some of the most famous speeches and sonnets.

Highly recommended as a very clear introduction to the works and world of William Shakespeare.