The only guide to Shakespeare you'll ever need, fully endorsed by Shakespeare's Globe Theatre

An amazing achievement - the book I turn to before seeing any new production. -- Michael Billington The Guardian Well-honed, stylish and thoroughly enjoyable -- Professor Stanley Wells, Chairman of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Handy, companionable and trustworthy ... awesomely assured ... this is a must-own volume that Bard veterans and apprentices alike will punish - and reward - with daily use. -- Boyd Tonkin The Independent You couldn't wish for a more user-friendly, reliable guidebook ... I doff my Bardic cap to this fine achievement -- Anthony Holden, author of William Shakespeare: His Life and Work Daily Mail A reference work and more, which could hardly be bettered, strongly recommended to all students and playgoers. -- Professor Jonathan Bate, co-editor of the RSC Shakespeare About as far from York Notes-style platitudes as it's possible to be. The Times What I like most about The Rough Guide to Shakespeare is that its author grinds no axes of any kind ... his native good sense shines through on every page. -- Terry Teachout The Wall Street Journal An extraordinary feat ... Energetic and fully comprehensive - the ultimate companion to Shakespeare's life and work, and written with enthusiasm and relish. It's a real treat. -- Rachel Kitley Times Educational Supplement Compendious and likely to be extremely useful, whether you are just beginning Shakespeare or preparing to see your forty-eighth Hamlet. -- Robert Shore The Times Literary Supplement Cuts through the whole of Shakespeare with panache and critical acuity. -- Professor Rene Weis, University College London

Andrew Dickson has been an arts editor at the Guardian and is now a freelance writer and critic, who has also written for the New Statesman and Sight and Sound among other publications. He has contributed to The New Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare (2010) and is currently an honorary research fellow at Birkbeck, University of London. He is a regular on BBC radio as a presenter and reviewer, and is author of the forthcoming Worlds Elsewhere: Journeys Around Shakespeare's Globe, a book about Shakespeare's global influence.