Shakespeare: The Biography

Drawingonanexceptionalcombinationofskillsasliterarybiographer,novelist,andchroniclerofLondonhistory,PeterAckroydsurelyre-createstheworldthatshapedShakespeare--andbringstheplaywrighthimselfintounusuallyvividfocus.Withcharacteristicnarrativepanache,Ackroydimmersesusinsixteenth-centuryStratfordandtherurallandscape–theindustry,theanimals,eventheflowers–thatwouldappearinShakespeare’splays.HetakesusthroughShakespeare’sLondonneighborhoodandthefertile,competitivetheaterworldwhereheworkedasactorandwriter.HeshowsusShakespeareasabusinessman,andasaconstantreviserofhiswriting.Injoiningtheseintimatedetailswithprofoundintuitionsabouttheplaywrightandhiswork,Ackroydhasproducedanaltogetherengagingmasterpiece.