I came across this volume while researching for my Masters degree. I found it insightful and well-written. Highly recommended to a student of Renaissance Literature

The thing I liked best about the book was the attention to detail and the way Skeele spoke about his passion for Shakespeare's Pericles. It took an insight that not many are familiar with, but also, the book was easy to follow and understand. I would definitly recommend this book to any Pericles fan or Shakespeare buff. An excellent read. I would also read more books by the author, David Skeele.

This is a creative and clever book that would be a perfect gift for a theatre lover. It's the kind of thing people would snap up at the gift shop at The Globe Theatre in London. The split pages allow you to put together almost any wacky combination, and they're a kick to read aloud.

Not only is it a terrific play, it is also true. You could check with Cleopatra.com about all the dishy details. By the way, I am working now on a true gory love story, that I may call Hamlet, or Get Thee to a Nunnery. Also, we are negotiating film rights.

This play leaves the reader with a feeling of despair. How could there be such evil in the world as is in Iago's heart? How could there be such jealousy as with Roderigo? And what of Desdemona's undying love...so powerful that with her last breath she denies that it was indeed her husband that took her life. The flood of emotion and pain in this book leave the reader feeling a great desperation for humanity. However, the reader will find humor in the irony and figurative language that is woven throughout the dialogue. This play exposes the darkest side of man with several thrilling murders and continuous deception. It also colors the most desirable characteristics of man...devotion, trust, and love. Read this play!

Whether you enjoy the beautiful literature of Shakespeare or not, Hamlet should still be part of anybody's collection. It will make your collection that much impressive. Hamlet is the greatest Shakespearean play, actually, it is the greatest play ever written. Just like Oedipus, Hamlet has been stuck in our vocabulary since the time when man could read. Who has not heard his first phrase in his classic soliloquy, "To be, or not to be- That is the question", or his punning statement towards his uncle, "I am too much in the sun"? Hamlet is part of our everyday culture and is such a perplexing character, that it baffled the minds of scholars such as Sigmund Freud and Friedrich Nietzsche. Aside from the complex themes of the play, Shakespeare writes with the most beautiful dialogues that can only be compared with Romeo and Juliet. The combination of a theme with deep depth, and Shakespeare's poetic touch, makes Hamlet the greatest piece of literary writing ever inked on paper.

Michael Pennington's Twelfth Night: A User's Guide takes the reader through one of Shakespeare's best loved and most frequently performed comedies, scene by detailed scene. Pennington reveals the play's themes, connections, characters, and individual lines in a sharp and telling focus as he offers an intensely practical account of the way the play actually works on a stage. Twelfth Night: A User's Guide is profoundly recommended reading for anyone aspiring to produce, direct, or perform in this classic Shakespeare comedy whether in school or community theater.

This book is a must read for all those who've read Shakespeare. One word of caution though: Unless you've read and understood the bard's plays vis a vis Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet etc, you won't understand the humor that comes through in Armour's witty dialogues. It helps if you knew a bit of Shakespeare's life/background as well. Chuckles at every few lines are inevitable, so get ready for some curious glances if you read this in public. Altoough Armour gives a comical interpretation to shakespeare's plays, its obvious that he's "not come to bury Shakespeare but to honor him." :-)

This book takes the reader from classical literature to contemporary newspapers on a trip to discover the true meaning of Shakespeare's first great success, ROMEO AND JULIET. The author gently guides us through some rather surprising discoveries. One, love does not conquer all, it kills all. Vendetta does not make heroes, it makes worms' meat. Yet poetry that grows out of melancholy makes the world perfect.

This work, separated into chapters by topic, is beautifully organized for research about Shakespeare's times and places, people and customs. Straightforward and invaluable for its content, this book is a must-have for any middle- or high-school English teacher (xeroxes of certain sections would be wonderful handouts!).