`Rather jolly and very helpful' The Times

Need to swot up on your Shakespeare? The ultimate guide to the Bard, perfect for the Shakespeare aficionado and general reader alike

If you've always felt a bit embarrassed at your precarious grasp on the plot of Othello, or you haven't a clue what a petard (as in `hoist with his own petard') actually is, then fear not, because this, at last, is the perfect guide to the Bard.

From the authors of the number-one bestselling Homework for Grown-ups, Shakespeare for Grown-upsis the essential book for anyone keen to deepen their knowledge of they plays and sonnets.

For parents helping with their children's homework, casual theatre-goers who want to enhance their enjoyment of the most popular plays and the general reader who feels they should probably know more about Britain's most splendid scribe, Shakespeare for Grown-ups covers Shakespeare's time; his personal life; his language; his key themes; his less familiar works and characters; his most famous speeches and quotations; phrases and words that have entered general usage, and much more.

With lively in-depth chapters on all the major works including Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, The Tempest, Romeo and Juliet, Much Ado About Nothing, Antony and Cleopatra, Richard II, Henry V, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Merchant of Venice and Macbeth, Shakespeare for Grown-ups is the only guide you'll ever need.