Bill

[Mark]

If it is as good as a Sunburnt Country I will have to read it.

[Alice43]

There is not much known about Shakespeare,it's mostly speculation and so on,but very good read with all the history and research in it.worth the read.Let me know what you think of it when you do.

[James]

It's amazing to me how there is no definitive spelling for his name. So many variations. Not even for the OED.

And it's easy to imagine how his plays may never had been printed and survived.

[Denis]

The Bill Bryson book about shakespeare is the best.

[V C]

It is a wonderful book that is written in Bryson's unique and entertaining voice bringing interest into a subject matter that could be dry. Highly recommend a read of this

[Liz]

I liked reading this book but the majority of his research was used in "Home," so if you miss out on reading this book...read "Home." It's much better!

[Janis]

I found this book much more interesting and engaging than anything else
I have read about Shakespeare. It held my interest. I would not use the book if I was going to write a research paper - but it suited my purposes for a relaxing read.

[David]

Having taught Shakespeare, it should not be too surprising that I have read many books about him. I love Bill Bryson, and his two books on language, The Mother Tongue and Made in America, are among my favorites. I think Bryson's take on Shakespeare is the best for readers not terribly concerned with additional details. I always told my students to imagine a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle and you have 200 random pieces, some from the two pages of actual known facts and the rest from research into records and what is known about the times. This is what Bryson and all the other biographers have to work with. It remains fascinating nonetheless, and it allows us to conjure up a pretty accurate but hazy picture of William Shakespeare. One final note, do I personally believe that W. Shakespeare of Stratford wrote the plays? I certainly do.

[Brad]

Me too, David. Especially after reading Bryson who is great at lampooning the alternative theories.

I thought that Greenblatt's WILL IN THE WORLD was good too.

[David]

Brad wrote: "Me too, David. Especially after reading Bryson who is great at lampooning the alternative theories.

I thought that Greenblatt's WILL IN THE WORLD was good too."

Yes, WILL IN THE WORLD is really good and was my favorite until I read Peter Ackroyd's SHAKESPEARE: THE BIOGRAPHY

[Brad]

I will have to put Ackroyd's on my list. Thanks.

[David]

Kevin wrote: "I read this book recently. It's the first I have read of Bill Bryson - though I have a couple of others on my shelf. My understanding has been that Bryson is a humourist, and unfortunately, I didn'..." Yes Bryson has matured somewhat in his later books in that they are not overtly funny (like his early travel works and "A Walk in the Woods." But he has a more British like subtle humor (perhaps because he lives in Britain). I just finished "One Summer: 1927" featuring Lindbergh, Babe Ruth and dozens of other events, and it is a great book--again with subtle humor.