These are stunningly well told versions of the plays.

They give not only the story, but a wonderful sense of the theatrical - you read and enjoy a visual sensation as well as the speech of Shakespeare (all the words 'spoken' are taken directly from Shakespeare's scripts).

Romeo and Juliet, for example, sweats in the heat of Verona. There is a fantastic image of wasps fighting! You go directly into the story - and moral considerations are there.

The pictures support the text well- giving yet another dimension to the book.

Forget Lamb!

I've used these stories in the classroom for many years now - partly because young people (11 through to much older!) relate to them -but also because I really enjoy re-reading them.

(There is a whole set of Abridged Shakspeare by Garfield too - and wonderful Animations done with Russian animators!)

When I took my long service leave, I bought Garfield's books of Shakespeare's Stories (both volumes) and I hired videos of Shakespeare's plays. Working with these and the texts of the plays, I gave myself a course in Shakespeare's plays. It was one of the highlights of my life.

I had supposed the Laurence Olivier was some pompous old fart with a plum in his mouth. He is ELECTRIC. His Hamlet is a study in depression. His voice in "To be or not to be" is scarcely audible but carries so much emotion.

In all, I watched 22 different plays - my favourites, Richard 11 and Hamlet, in several different versions. I followed the BBC series which uses the same actors from one play to the next so that the Duke of Gloucester in one play is played by the same actor who later becomes Richard 11 in the next play.

Leon Garfield's story-telling with its light touch of irony and its perfect choice of words opened a door that I had assumed was marked "Other people only". Garfield wrote marvellous children's book and I've read them all but these books are the best of his achievements and they've made a big difference to my life.

Excellent choice for English teachers who want to review Shakespeare's classics with students. I have also used this with my middle school students to introduce them to Shakespeare. The stories are written in clear language so that students will be able to understand the wonderful stories of the bard without being intimidated by Shakespearean language A must for all English teachers!

(And by the way, it's pronounced "Loney.") I can't add much to the other positive reviews of this ground-breaking book. Written well, convincing...long live the Earl of Oxford--"Though I once gone to all the world must die" indeed!!

Book arrived in the late afternoon, I started reading and didn't get to bed till 10 AM the next morning. A stunning detective story.

This book introduced the revolutionary idea that an aristocrat named Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford (1550- 1604), wrote the works of Shakespeare under a psuedonym. Oxford is now considered the leading candidate for the authorship of the Shakespeare canon largely because of the influence this book has had over a 75 year period. It first addresses the documentary evidence "against" Will Shakspere from Stratford as the author, then presents the positive evidence on behalf of Oxford as author. The evidence for Oxford is detailed and circumstantial: literary and intellectual parallels in the works of Oxford and Shakespeare; parallels in the life of Oxford, his family and friends and the plots of the Shakespeare plays; topical references in the plays that pre-date the time during which Shakespeare allegedly wrote the works; professional, political and historical knowledge displayed in the plays for which the Stratford actor could not have had the training or access; and so on. Exhaustive research; excellent organization of materials; superbly written. A book that academics have not been able to refute since its publication in 1920.

It should be obvious that Shakespeare wrote great literature. That fact is assumed by the authors of this book. However, Allan Bloom and Harry Jaffa demonstrate a deeper awareness of Shakespeare than one will find in literature departments. Shakespeare combined poetry with an acute knowledge of politics, and these excellent scholars have written a clear and convincing account of some of those facets of political wisdom. Read this fine book and help rescue Shakespeare from political irrelevance.

I am admittedly not too familiar with much of Shakespeare scholarship out there, but I would venture to suggest that (considering the elgance of Bloom's prose as well as the depth of his insights) this work should rank among the finest in Shakespeare scholarship. Such a statement would surely offend the academic snobbery of the Shakespeare scholarship cabal who would reflexively question the authority of one who is not a Shakepeare specialist, in particular, the authority of one who has specialized in expounding the thoughts of Plato and Rosseau. However, I would argue that this is precisely the very reason that elevates Bloom the political philosopher in a privileged position in understanding Shakespeare. The rationale is supplied in the beginning of Bloom's study itself: the great classical dramatists or poets were not proponents of the art for art's sake or creating art for purely aesthetic reasons. Instead, through their art, the great dramatists and poets sought to convey certain timeless truths about human existence, in particular, about political existence, for man is a zoon politikon according to Aristotle. Hence, Bloom's account is a necessary corrective to those language nabobs who would rather prattle about the meters and stanzas and in so doing lose sight of Shakespeares account of the Whole.

It is difficult to convey how wonderful I found this thin little book to be. It is no larger than a slice of rye bread, but the food for thought contained therein could feed a soul for a thousand days. It took me two mesermizing hours to get through the Introduction and Bloom's essay on 'The Merchant of Venice'. At first, I mistrusted my recollection- was there really so much there? Had the dry old play decayed so completely in my estimation, or had Bloom inserted his own opinions? No, after more blissful consternation, I relived what I had long taken for dead. Allan Bloom really sees things. His deft insight makes Shakespeare seem real and urgent again, despite how unfashionable and out of vogue the debate may seem to contemporary minds. The Jewish and the Christian come to light, the entire legacy of each Faith revealed keenly, sharply, and decisively in favour of one higher power. The authority of thought, the power of unaided reason brought to bear nakedly on an eternal, ever-so tender, sore. Bloom's essay on 'Othello' and 'Julius Cesear' prove out this reviewer's intial wonder at the work. To readers familiar with Bloom's other works, I include myself, this book was additionally worthy because it showed that the issue Allan Bloom later became famous for, the decay of education, was already at the forefront of his mind in the early 1960's. He states in the book's introduction and claims it as his motivation for publishing the essay. This was 1964, several years before the signifigant events of the 1960s took full shape and bore full weight on American society. The introduction includes Bloom's stark assessment of Poetry and Philosophy. He quotes Napolean (one of very few direct quotes, the footnotes are rich, but few) to argue for the superiority of poetry over politics and then slyly demostrates the superiority of philosophy, or the philosopher, true and proper, over poetry. This is a book you could own and keep and reread often, even secrete it undercover and carry it across hostile borders, real and imagined.

Professor Booth's unsurpassed edition of the immortal Sonnets has an exhaustive consideration of all the issues that can perplex a reader, but it may proving daunting to beginning students. Undergraduate students may wish to begin with Katherine Duncan-Jones edition from Routledge (The Arden Shakespeare) or Burrows edition from Oxford. Advanced students in Shakespeare or English literature who intend to continue mining this ore over the years will find Booth's edition a precious resource for their library.

Rather than repeat the fine points in other reviews, allow me just to caution the reader about the change in the publisher's standards of printing (beginning around 2000): the paper gets cheap, and the binding too. I would love to support Yale University Press in its commitment to keep this edition in print. Unfortunately, if you are a serious enough student to value Professor Booth's work, you will be using this volume enough to need a better printing, and I need to encourage you to seek out a used copy of an earlier printing.

SHAKESPEARE'S SONNETS. Edited with analytic commentary by Stephen Booth. 583 pp. (Yale Nota Bene). New Haven & London : Yale University Press, 2000 (1977). ISBN 0-300-08506-0 (pbk.)

Shakespeare's 'Sonnets' is a deservedly well-loved body of poetry, and there have been innumerable editions. For the enthusiast and student, however, it's doubtful that there could be a better edition than that of Stephen Booth. Originally published in a bulky (and expensive) clothbound edition in 1977, it has now been reissued as a fat though fairly compact paperback that will put it within reach of a much wider audience.

One reason that Elizabethan lyrics are so powerful and memorable, is that they were composed in an age when poetry was still linked closely with music. Elizabethans were often competent musicians, and many of their poems were true lyrics or songs. Often their poems were set to music, and all were probably composed while the gentle plucking of a lute or some such instrument was running somewhere through the back of the poet's mind.

Today we live in an age when composers are no longer giving us real songs, songs that stay in the mind and that can be hummed or sung when for some reason or other they rise into consciousness; songs that are always there when we feel like singing, and that can help cheer us up, make us happy, and refresh our spirit; songs, too, for both light and more thoughtful moods.

In contrast to this true type of song, what we seem to be getting today is little more than words with little or no meaning accompanied by noise, the sort of stuff that a machine could write and probably is writing, and profoundly unmemorable.

Shakespeare's 'Sonnets,' however, bring us a world of meaning. The whole of life is in them - its joys and sorrows, its passions and frustrations and torments - and all expressed in some of the most sonorous and beautiful English ever written, and set to powerful rhythms that deeply penetrate the psyche.

Stephen Booth's edition, after a Preface in which he explains his procedures, gives us not one but two texts of the 'Sonnets,' each of which is printed on facing pages : The Text of the 1609 Quarto (Apsley imprint, the Huntington-Bridgewater copy), and Booth's edited text with modern spelling and punctuation.

Seeing the texts exactly as they were presented to Shakespeare's contemporaries is an interesting experience. Some readers will probably love the antique spellings and typography, other may hate it, but at least we've been given a choice. And having access to the Quarto can lead to a deeper understanding of the poems.

Booth's incredibly full and detailed commentary, a commentary for the advanced student and the scholar, and which "is designed to help a modern reader towards the kind of understanding that Renaissance readers brought to the works," is set in a rather tiny font and runs to over 400 pages. Here, in comments ranging from brief glosses to full-length essays, will be found the answer to every conceivable question we may have about an individual sonnet, and much more besides.

Booth has incorporated four extended essays into his analytic commentary : 1. On explications and emendations of unsatisfactory Shakespearian texts (pp.364-72); 2. On the special grandeur of the best sonnets (pp.387-92); 3. On spelling and punctuation (pp.447-520); 4. On the functions of criticism (pp.507-17).

Following the commentary Booth has provided a list of Abbreviations Used in the Commentary; two Appendixes (1. Facts and Theories about Shakespeare's Sonnets; 2. Excerpts from Book XIV of Ovid's 'Metamorphoses'); a detailed Index to the Commentary; an Index of First Lines; and a section of Additional Notes. The book also includes illustrations of two title pages, and the incredible 'literal portrait of a beauty' on page 453.

It will be seen that Booth has set quite a feast before us, and probably one far bigger than many readers are looking for. Those who would prefer to have a version which, though still offering the original Quarto text along with a modernized text, but with a less detailed though equally sophisticated commentary which takes the form of sonnet-by-sonnet essays, might take a look at the far better produced and more beautifully printed edition of Helen H. Vendler ('The Art of Shakespeare's Sonnets,' Belknap 1999).

Others might prefer to think of Booth's prize-winning edition as a sort of investment, which perhaps contains more than they presently need, but which they will probably be able to put to fuller use later on. In terms of its content, the Booth seems to me to be unexceptionable. In terms of its physical makeup, however, it leaves much to be desired.

Although it is well-printed, the paper is not of particularly good quality. The fonts used for the 'Sonnets,' though not large, are readable. But the fonts used in the rest of the book are so tiny as to make them tiring to read for any length of time. You will need very good eyesight and very good lighting to feel comfortable when reading this book.

To return to the 'Sonnets,' the fact that their lines stick so easily in our minds, and that the re-reading of favorites will soon see us having memorized, if not the whole sonnet then certainly substantial portions of it, seems to me proof that the 'Sonnets' are real sustenance for the spirit. They help at different times to to fortify our spirit, to clarify our own thoughts about life, and even on occasions to cheer us up.

As such, and whether we realize it or not, they become a kind of word-music that all of us need. So whether you go for the Booth or the Vendler or some other less ambitious edition, my advice would be to give Shakespeare's words a chance to work their magic. You may be surprised at what they can do for you.

134 pages of sonnets - 583 page book!

This is surely the definitive edition of Shakespeare's Sonnets.

I thought I knew the sonnets until I read this - and re-read and read again.

The poems are presented in facsimile with a modern version facing allowing the readers to attempt their own direct reading if they wish. The modern version has a British spelling slant - which I find gratifying!

Mr Booth is painstaking in his scholarship - attempting to give a feeling for the Renaissance reader's understanding of the poems as well as explaining the 'meaning' of the lines. And his attempts are successful.

I cannot imagine a better edition in my lifetime!

The sonnet is one of the more difficult-to-write forms of poetry, with very strict rules on rhyming and lines, and that makes Shakespeare's collection of sonnets all the more impressive. Shakespeare sprinkled his various plays with poetry and songs, but there is something of a different flavor to these works.

Titleless, identified only by numbers, these poems have vivid metaphors and imagery ("let not winter's ragged hand deface," "gold candles fix'd in heaven's air"). The tone of the poetry varies from one sonnet to the next; sometimes it focuses on old age, to love that "looks upon tempests and is not shaken," and simple expressions that can't really be interpreted any other way. Some of it is pretty well-known ("Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?/Thou art more lovely and more temperate") but most of them you won't have seen before.

Even if you're not normally a fan of poetry, the delicate touch of Shakespeare's words is worth checking into. Fantastic.

This edition of the sonnets is one of the most important and the description on Amazon is misleading - It is actually both volumes 24 and 25 bound together so you get the complete set It's hard to find this book so it is a great find in this version

Shakespeare's amazing Sonnets are compiled here in this wonderful volume, a great addition to anyone's bookshelf. If you love Shakespeare, then this is a must-have book.

Let me be very clear as to why I give this book a full five stars... it makes Shakespeare's sonnets readily accessible/understandable to the average common reader (which I consider myself to be). This Arden version has become a treasure to me. I have loved W.S.'s sonnets ever since committing #116 (my favorite) to memory a few years ago, but I admit that many of them have left me with one profound thought at the end of the fourteenth line, and that thought is... "huh"? It is truly a sad predicament to be left in such a state of ignorance when Shakespeare is ALWAYS saying something AWESOME! But this book has come closest to a complete cure for me. I am now seldom (if ever) left in the dark by an obscure phrase, line, or context, because the notes on the opposing page are right there to help me through those exact points of difficulty. I unreservedly recommend this affordably priced 3rd Series edited by Katherine Duncan-Jones to any and all sonnet lovers. Let it "give physic" to your ailment.

P.S. It begins with an excellent over 100 page introduction and follows the sonnets with an equally great exposition of "A Lover's Complaint".

This is a nicely bound, low priced volume of Shakespeare's sonnets. But it is more than just that. Each sonnet is on a page by itself with explanatory notes on the facing page. While most of us do not need a spoon-feeding of these wonderful works, we sometimes do come to an abrupt halt at "some in their garments like new-fangled ill", or "sometimes a blusterer that the ruffle knew of court". In the above instances we are talking about fashionable but absurd garments, and a braggart's display. Also, many elisions are changed to modern words (e.g. advised for aduis'd) except where such a change would hinder the flow of the sonnet. There are also over 100 pages of historical and critical comments at the front of the book, which you can read or ignore as you choose.

All in all this is an excellent package of the sonnets with a very useful set of notes. It's great that all of the notes are adjacent to the sonnets, so that you do not have to page back and forth, and that there are no nasty little note reference numbers marring the lines of the sonnets.

This is a nicely bound, low priced volume of Shakespeare's sonnets. But it is more than just that. Each sonnet is on a page by itself with explanatory notes on the facing page. While most of us do not need a spoon-feeding of these wonderful works, we sometimes do come to an abrupt halt at "some in their garments like new-fangled ill", or "sometimes a blusterer that the ruffle knew of court". In the above instances we are talking about fashionable but absurd garments, and a braggart's display. Also, many elisions are changed to modern words (e.g. advised for aduis'd) except where such a change would hinder the flow of the sonnet. There are also over 100 pages of historical and critical comments at the front of the book, which you can read or ignore as you choose.

All in all this is an excellent package of the sonnets with a very useful set of notes. It's great that all of the notes are adjacent to the sonnets, so that you do not have to page back and forth, and that there are no nasty little note reference numbers marring the lines of the sonnets.

I had the good furtune to meet Michael York at a book signing for A Shakespearean Actor Prepares, while he was on tour in Vermont. He was open, very friendly and respectful of everyone, a gentleman in the best sense of the word.

In his book, he generously shares his early theater experiences and his love of the bard. He sensitively guides the reader through the delicate process of uncovering meaning and emotions in the text.

Michael's warm, resonant voice, a trademark, naturally results from his text-based approach to acting. In A Shakespearean Actor Prepares, he recommends studying for Richard II this way: "If you read the speech aloud, paying attention to the suggested breaks, and to the key words (the words that are important to Richard), and to the heavy stresses, you will probably find a patrician fury welling up inside you--almost of its own accord."

The emotions come through the words, not before them. That's how respect for the writer becomes high art. Careful preparation and passion naturally expressed keeps the actor open to experimentation. Openness, a fresh creative attitude, keeps the actor and person young and handsome.

We are lucky to have such teachers and artists.

This is really a wonderful and accessible and readable book about Shakesepeare and his work. Even if you're not interested in the craft of acting, but do have an interest in Shakespeare, I highly reccomend this book. And it is written without any pretension. Obviously the name "Shakespeare" in our culture can carry as much snob appeal as the name "Gucci" or "Hermes" and a fair amount of snobbery is often attached to Shakespeare because of it. But this book comes from a pure love of Shakespeare, so you don't feel you are reading something that is "good for you." He is made enjoyable. As the authors point out, Shakespeare ran the Globe Theater for profit, so had to appeal to the masses to get them to buy tickets. And so he was likely not a snob, and should be (I think!) approached as these authors approach him. This book is an absolute treat.

This book is well thought out, precise and one of the best, most informative books I have read regarding the performance of Shakespeare. I have studied with many acting teachers including Ada Brown Mather, formerly of RADA, and Patrick Tucker, the main proponent of the First Folio method. Without doubt, this common sense approach to Shakespearean performance is on the mark. The idea of making an argument with a speech, finding the points of a scene that move the story forward, not accepting that the script is a blueprint for performance, etc. are all important points. I also enjoyed the comparison of Shakespearian acting concepts with Stanislovski's approach. A book to keep and review periodically, as important as Granville-Barker's Prefaces to Shakespeare. And timely for me personally considering I am currently performing Macduff in a local theater.

Thank you for this practical guide.

Shakespeare's sonnets and narrative poems are something that every well-versed romantic should have a copy of and this well priced and durable volume is great for reading and re-reading and marking up your favorite passages to memorize later.

Having read "A MidSummer's Night Dream" I knew that the bard could pen page after page of love-filled, alluring rhyming verse. But if that's what you fancy then you must read the sonnets and the long lyric poems contained in this Everyman's edition.

I'm trying to commit sonnet #18 to memory. It famously starts "shall I compare these to a summer's day". These are among the greatest pick up lines of the 16th century.

The sonnets are beautiful in their appreciation of love and the feminie form. Shakespeare must have been exactly as he was potrayed in the film "Shakespeare in Love": always on the prowl for females and continually in search of a muse. (Interestingly the translation of "muse" in the 15th and 16th century is "poet.)

Finally, the poem Venus and Adonis is more of this romantic banter. This poem is red hot, much more erotic than anything you could read in Maxim or Cosmopolitan. Consider this: "Being so enraged (aroused), desire doth lender her force Courageously to pluck him from his horse...She red and hot as coals of glowing fire, He red for shame, but frosty in desire...Tis but a kiss I beg--what art thou coy."

This is titalliting, stimulating fair. ("Fair" means pretty in old English.) Who can read this without blushing. No wonder we didn't read this in high school.

This is the perfect way to read Shakespeare. I also highly recommend the other volumes of Shakespeare available from the Everyman's Library.

Book Review: William Shakespeare & the Globe By: Aliki

This book has been honored with many awards for good reason. With pictures, a sprinkle of quotes from several of Shakespeare's own plays, and many historical references make this book is a very interesting layout of William Shakespeare's life and times. The book chronicles the theatre world in Shakespeare's time and his involvement in it all,and the building and rebuilding of the famous Globe theatre (even up to its rebirth in 1987!). The book shows the various phases of William's life in "Acts" just like his famous plays. The book even discusses the many words and phrases that he invented that we still use today. It ends with a look at Sam Wanamaker and Theo Crosby's vision of recreating The Globe and how they went about creating this wonderful restoration.

A book that captures the reader's attention visually and with its easily read text. I am, as a teacher of 7th grade English, very impressed by this book, and can't wait to share it with my classes.

This book was the best Shakespeare book i've read. It had great facts and pictures for my Shakespeare roport. Now i read it for great enjoyment. It not only tells the story of Shakespeare but the story of Sam Wanamaker who had a dream to rebuild Shakespeare's Globe Theather. This was the best shakespeare book around, i bet you will enjoy it

Aliki's gift for clarity, humor and cleverness shine through this wonderful book. It is, like all Aliki's books, loaded with information, but manages not to overwhelm. You will find yourself coming back to this book again and again, examining the pictures and finding details you hadn't noticed before. A marvelous introduction to Shakespeare for mid- to older elementary children (and a visual delight for even younger readers!).

As a nonactor I'm in the midst of reading this book. Now for the first time I'm completely grasping the prose and verse. In the past I've tried to read Shakespeare cold, with no help, and as a modern English speaker you can pick up some things yes, but this book makes it all, and I mean all clear. We get well over 100 of his greatest monologues, and every unfamiliar word is fully explained, as well as multiple interpretations of the lines.

I recommend this book to students, actors, writers, and layman for it will unleash the magic of the verse. And when it does you can read or see a performance and grasp it all...and there is so much to grasp, and a good play requires a good reader, a good performance, a good audience, and this book will make you one.

Learn the Speech! Actors need tools for their acting toolkit and not a day goes by here at my Writers & Performers Garage in Los Angeles that I don't mention this great new tool. With over 150 monologues, it's an essential for actor preparation. I can't think of any recent book I've read that is more useful for actors working seriously at their craft.

Although I know Speak the Speech is intended to be "an actor's tool kit," I have found it abundantly helpful as I teach my Shakespeare literature class this semester. The analysis and explication of speeches from As You Like It, Richard II and Henry IV have been a god-send as I work to have Shakespeare's characters jump off the page and live in the imaginations of my students.

I am also thrilled to be able to refer students in my Audition Techniques class to the book as they struggle with developing classical audition monologues. The wonder of this text is that it offers textual illumination of familiar passages for seasoned actors and scholars, and is at the same time written in a manner that is immediately accessible beginners.

I look forward with excitement to using this book in coming semesters as I teach my classes in acting Shakespeare.