When you purchase an independently reviewed book through our site, we earn an affiliate commission. By James Shapiro THE PRIVATE LIFE OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE By Lena Cowen Orlin Much of the evidence ...

Discover the real historical figures behind five of Shakespeare's most famous characters, from Hamlet to Cleopatra.

Ming-Trent is not the first or last to credit The Swan of Avon with saving his life. But based on all those who also helped save him so he can thrive today, there is no doubt that Shakespeare, among ...

At their best, Shakespearean biographers are like great jazz musicians, able to take a few notes of an old standard and spin them into dizzying riffs of conjecture. At their worst they reshuffle old ...

Jack Lynch’s argument in “Becoming Shakespeare: The Unlikely Afterlife That Turned a Provincial Playwright Into the Bard” (Walker, 320 pages, $24.95) is reminiscent of Walter Pater’s idea that the ...

William Shakespeare is, arguably, the most influential writer in history, with lines that have been parroted both in and out of the context of his plays for centuries. “Hamnet” is a testament to the ...

This article is brought to you by our exclusive subscriber partnership with our sister title USA Today, and has been written by our American colleagues. It does not necessarily reflect the view of The ...

In her eighth novel Hamnet, Maggie O’Farrell imagines the short life and tragic death of Shakespeare’s only son, aged 11, in ...