Shakespeare’s extraordinarily life condenses into a charming and brief biography in this pithy tale of life, loss and return. Beginning with the early departure to the final homecoming, we find out how public success as a writer tracked against private grief in experiences of child loss and Shakespeare's marriage to Anne Hathaway. Paul Menzer honours the well-known stories without neglecting the mysteries of why he left Stratford, who he ran with in London and why he put down his pen to come home again.

This edition is adapted from William Shakespeare: A Brief Life with an updated Introduction, further examples of connections between Shakespeare’s works and personal biography, new illustrations of Shakespeare’s journey between London and Stratford, the latest cutting-edge scholarship and archival discoveries.

Paul Menzer is Dean of Visual and Performing Arts at Mary Baldwin University, USA, where he is a Professor and Director of the Shakespeare and Performance graduate programme.