A handy yet authoritative guide to all Shakespeare's extant works (with information about those known to be lost), this volume provides cast lists, scene-by-scene plot synopses, and contextual information for Shakespeare's plays, and thorough entries on his poems. It is a perfect primer for anyone wishing to be better acquainted with Shakespeare.

Preface All Is True All's Well That Ends Well Antony and Cleopatra As You Like It Cardenio The Comedy of Errors Coriolanus Cymbeline Edward III First Part of the Contention of the Two Famous Houses of York and Lancaster (2 Henry VI) Hamlet Henry IV Part 1 Henry IV Part 2 Henry V Henry VI Part 1 Julius Caesar King John King Lear A Lover's Complaint Love's Labour's Lost Love's Labour's Won Macbeth Measure for Measure The Merchant of Venice The Merry Wives of Windsor A Midsummer's Night Dream Much Ado About Nothing Othello Pericles The Phoenix and the Turtle The Rape of Lucrece Richard Duke of York (3 Henry VI) Richard II Richard III Romeo and Juliet Sir Thomas More Sonnets The Taming of the Shrew The Tempest Timon of Athens Titus Andronicus Troilus and Cressida Twelfth Night The Two Gentlemen of Verona The Two Noble Kinsmen Venus and Adonis The Winter's Tale A Short Life of William Shakespeare Shakespeare's Life, Works, and Reception: A Partial Chronology, 1564-2020 Family Tree of Characters in the English Histories Some Suggested Further Reading

...crammed with information of the most detailed kind. One particularly magnificent section gives the entire chronology of every one of the families involved in the history plays... This is a book with no messing about. It gives its information clearly and in a pithy manner which enables the reader to absorb a great deal of information without too much cerebral effort...this little book has a wonderfully powerful kick.

Detailed plot synopses for every play and accounts of the poems, with plays broken down scene-by-scene for ease of reference Handy cast lists of all the plays' characters Authoritative background information on each work's provenance and textual features, and summaries of artistic features and notable criticism Performance and screen histories summarized and celebrated End matter includes a concise biography of Shakespeare, suggestions for further reading, and a handy chronology of Shakespeare's life and legacy Based on entries from the acclaimed Oxford Companion to Shakespeare, fully revised and updated to reflect the latest scholarship

Michael Dobson is Professor of Shakespeare Studies and Director of the Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham, a member of the Council of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, and an honorary governor of the Royal Shakespeare Company: his previous appointments include posts at Oxford, Harvard, the University of Illinois at Chicago and the University of London, and he has held fellowships and visiting appointments in California, Sweden and China. His publications include The Making of the National Poet (1992), England's Elizabeth (with Nicola Watson, 2002), Performing Shakespeare's Tragedies Today (2006), and Shakespeare and Amateur Performance (2011). Sir Stanley Wells, CBE, FRSL, is Honorary President, Life Trustee, and former Chairman of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. He was Professor of Shakespeare Studies and Director of the Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham, from 1988-1997, and is now Emeritus Professor. He is an Honorary Emeritus Governor of the Royal Shakespeare Company. He has been General Editor of the Oxford Shakespeare since 1978 and is General Editor of the Penguin Shakespeare. One of the most distinguished Shakespearian scholars currently working, his publications include The Oxford Dictionary of Shakespeare (1998), Shakespeare: The Poet and his Plays (2001), The Oxford Shakespeare: King Lear (2001), Shakespeare For All Time (2002), Shakespeare & Co (2006), Shakespeare, Sex, and Love (2010), Great Shakespeare Actors (2015), William Shakespeare: A Very Short Introduction (2015), and Shakespeare's Tragedies: A Very Short Introduction (2017).

Detailed plot synopses for every play and accounts of the poems, with plays broken down scene-by-scene for ease of reference Handy cast lists of all the plays' characters Authoritative background information on each work's provenance and textual features, and summaries of artistic features and notable criticism Performance and screen histories summarized and celebrated End matter includes a concise biography of Shakespeare, suggestions for further reading, and a handy chronology of Shakespeare's life and legacy Based on entries from the acclaimed Oxford Companion to Shakespeare, fully revised and updated to reflect the latest scholarship