Product Description

The Complete Works of Shakespeare contains the recognized canon of the bard's plays, and his sonnets and poems. The texts were edited by the late Professor Peter Alexander, making it one of the most authoritative editions, recognized the world over for its clarity and scholarship. Described in the Guardian on its first publication in 1951 as 'a symbol in the history of our national culture', the Collins edition of the Complete Works of William Shakespeare, edited by the late Professor Peter Alexander, has long been established as one of the most authoritative editions of Shakespeare's works, and was chosen by the BBC as the basis for its televised cycle of the plays. The book starts with two specially written articles -- a biography of Shakespeare by Germaine Greer and a wide-ranging introduction to Shakespeare theatre by the late Anthony Burgess. Each play is also introduced by academics from Glasgow University, where Professor Alexander undertook his editing. New to this edition is an internet resources section, providing details of the most useful Shakespeare websites. In addition, the invaluable glossary of over 2,500 entries explaining the meaning of obsolete words and phrases (complete with line references) has been expanded and redesigned to make it much easier to use.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #85087 in Books
• Published on: 2006-04-03
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 1436 pages

Review
'A symbol in the history of our national culture' Guardian 'The most esteemed and influential British edition of the 20th century' Gary Taylor, General Editor, Oxford Complete Shakespeare 'I am most impressed with the layout and content of this book, especially the informative commentaries on each of the plays. It is also useful to have a reference section at the rear of the book' Michael Guest on amazon.co.uk

About the Author
William Shakespeare is widely regarded as the greatest playwright the world has seen. He produced an astonishing amount of work; 37 plays, 154 sonnets, and 5 poems. He died on 23rd April 1616, aged 52, and was buried in the Holy Trinity Church, Stratford.

Customer Reviews

wonderful
This book represents a wonderful opportunity to enjoy shakesperare for those whose mother tongue is not english. The effort put in the edition is clearly shown form the very first page, also the introductory notes on each play.
However, I would have liked to find longer and deeper comments on the plays and footnotes really on their footpage, rather than at the very end of the book, that makes it more complicated to follow.
However, it can be recommended to anyone who likes literature in the original.
Shakespeare has and will always be a pleasure to read

Thou hast produced a work of purest beauty!
After my experience of Shakespeare at school I was very disillusioned with Shakespeare. Now that I am older I wanted to try and revisit Shakespeare to see if age had changed me. That is where this book comes in. It is cheap and so you have the feeling you are buying a bargain. The book also provides good introductions to Shakespeare and the context of his life and the plays he wrote. This prepares you for Shakespeare's actual plays in a way that gives them meaning for modern contemporary society. All his plays of which are included in this book. This book turned a Shakespeare doubter into somebody who now enjoys his works. Buy it or risk not having lived your life to the full.

Outstanding!
When I received the Complete Works of William Shakespeare for my birthday from my Great Aunt I was initially intimidated by a combination of its size, bulk and the plethora of footnotes present on a given page. I pondered: When would I ever actually use such a mammoth text?, and resolved to keep it on the shelf as a symbol of my cultured self! However one day, upon returning from my school, I was appalled to realise that I had forgotten my edition of "Much Ado About Nothing" and had an exam on it the following day. In desperation I searched for notes and passages on the Internet but, alas, with no tangible results. Suddenly I remembered the Complete works of William Shakespeare and hauled it down with much doubt in my mind. I scanned the frightfully long table of contents without enthusiasm and turned my page to Act 1 Scene 1. Upon scanning the first couple of scenes I was immediately struck by the concise, intelligent and informative footnotes which seemed to compel me onwards rather than provide for a halting reading of the play as did my personal edition of the play. The added text by the authors and editors provided me with a substantial analysis of the key themes of the play and even gave instances in which each underlying theme is revealed in the actions and lines of the characters. I came into the testing room confident the next day and scored top marks in my class for our test (which included, paraphrasing, analysing key themes and an in class five paragraph essay). I am so impressed by this collection that I no longer bother to bring Shakespeare home with me from school as this edition provides me with a more than sufficient, if not generally more thorough, presentation of each of his works. I highly recommend this excellent collection.