A first rate look at the life of England's most famous dramatist. The details are amazing, even the trivial details are interesting. The author makes no claims to know things that are not known, and often will discuss all the differing views on what a piece of evidence means, and discuss the likelihood of each idea. He examines the youth of Shakespeare in some detail, and discusses the ideas about his relationship with his wife. He does not jump feet first into the fray of who wrote Shakespeare's plays, but instead moves ahead with the assumption that Shakespeare himself wrote Shakespeare's plays, while at times discussing the reasons why the other candidates don't work. Upon reading this book, it is difficult to see where those other candidates came from, or even the idea that there was someone other than Shakespeare who wrote Shakespeare's plays. Far from being unmentioned in his own time as is often posited, Ackroyd assembles an impressive array of mentions of Shakespeare by his contemporaries, both praise and dismissal. Though he is by no means as often mentioned as many of the other playwrights, Ackryod details the particulars of Shakespeare's life as they are known to demonstrate that the man lived a relatively private and less flamboyant existence than the other playwrights, and also that he is mentioned as the author of his plays repeatedly throughout his life. He also discusses the education and likely apprenticeship of the playwright, and finds the idea that he was illiterate or nearly so to be lacking any evidence or support. A must read for all fans of the bard, because it helps understand his plays better by putting them in the context not only of the time, but the place in which they were written. The main downside is the length, which is daunting, and some of the details are not necessary. But with such well-written prose and such extensive research, that can be forgiven. Just plan on devoting some real time to it. ( )

A standard biography of Shakespeare, with the lucid, engaging prose of Peter Ackroyd. There are few endnotes, but mostly the sources Ackroyd uses are mentioned in the text. There is a serviceable bibliography. Nice images. Ackroyd is a Stratfordian, and offers reliable, solid evidence that Shakspere the man from Stratford-upon-Avon was the actor AND playwright Shakespeare of London. (No evidence that will convince the average, paranoiac, anti-Stratfordian conspiracy theorist, however, but convincing to me.) Shakespeare the man and Shakespeare the playwright are brought to life in almost novelist-like detail here (as much as is possible with the oftentimes scanty documentation of Shakespeare's life). The story is interesting and essential. To me, this is the essential one-volume life of Shakespeare for the general reader for this generation (much like Rowse's was a generation or two ago). ( )

On little evidence and gleanings from the plays the author is able to build an interesting portrait of the bard. ( )

This is a fascinating account of William Shakespeare, with much more theatrical detail than I've ever read or heard before. There is more information than can be remembered, but I really appreciated that conjecture was all well backed up with data, mostly financial and theatrical records. It was a different view from past books I've read. I also really liked that he discussed in detail the many suppositions that have been made about Shakespeare and why they may or may not be accurate, if they were probable, possible but unknown, improbable, or nearly impossible. Ackroyd is quite careful not to state anything is absolutely true without lots of evidence and explanation. Granted, that means there's a lot of data and a lot of threads to follow, but it's intriguing and well written.

Ackroyd's writing style is perfect for this; at times he puts phrases together like a modern Shakespeare.

This is not the book for a very casual Shakespeare enthusiast; the more you are familiar with him and his plays and theater in general, the more interesting this is. If you are just beginning your study of Shakespeare, I would read a more generalized book first. Also, if you are mostly interested in an analysis of Shakespeare's plays in order to reveal Shakespeare's life and persona, this is not that biography. The plays are analyzed, but with more emphasis on what was happening in England and the theatrical world at the time. How they related to Shakespeare's life at the time was discussed, but because how he felt about things is more conjecture, Ackroyd does not focus on that.

Lots of detail from not much data. Paints a plausible picture of the man & his plays & poetry.
Read Mar 2007 ( )