Description: In this biography, the problems of Shakespeare’s life and work have been tackled for the first time by a leading historian of the Elizabethan Age. Strange as it may seem, Shakespeare has not been dealt with by a historian before, when it is only natural that an intimate knowledge of the age should throw light on the work of the man.  The historian’s approach is not antithetical to that of literary scholars, but complementary. The result is the addition of a whole dimension to our knowledge of Shakespeare – that of historical reality.

By a proper application of historical method Dr. Rowse has been able to solve the problem of the Sonnets, which occupy a crucial place in Shakespeare’s work and have hitherto constituted the greatest puzzle in English literature. Among other things he has been able to establish, for the first time, the date and occasion of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’, provide the missing clue to ‘Love’s Labour’s Lost’, throw new light on the context of ‘Romeo and Juliet’, and illuminate the history and political plays at many points in the light of the events of the time.

The significant achievement of this biography is the way in which the historian has brought Shakespeare, the man, to life in the environment of his time, bringing out the interrelation between his experience and his writing, the way one is reflected in the other. It is by this method that this biography is able to offer us, to a degree otherwise hardly to be hoped for, so much that is new about Shakespeare.