The Cambridge Introduction to Shakespeare

This lively and innovative introduction to Shakespeare promotes active
engagement with the plays, rather than recycling factual information.
Covering a range of texts, it is divided into seven subject-based chapters:
Character, Performance, Texts, Language, Structure, Sources and
History, and it does not assume any prior knowledge. Instead, it
develops ways of thinking and provides the reader with resources for
independent research through the ‘Where next?’ sections at the end of
each chapter. The book draws on up-to-date scholarship without being
overwhelmed by it and, unlike other introductory guides to Shakespeare,
it emphasises that there is space for new and fresh thinking by students
and readers, even on the most-studied and familiar plays.
emma smith is Fellow and Tutor in English at Hertford College,
University of Oxford.