SHAKESPEARE The World as Stage by Bill Bryson was published by Harper Press in 2007, it’s part of their EMINENT LIVES series. It’s very different from the other books that I’ve read by Bryson, where he seems to aim for a laugh a page. This is quite a serious book, but of course the downside is that so little is known about Shakespeare, but he manages to do away with some of the ‘facts’ that others have promoted over the centuries. So despite Bryson being able to delve into historical papers  – something that I’m always envious of, there are no real revelations, if anything his famous last will seems even more mysterious than before.

I did learn a lot about the history of the various theatres in London though, and some of the people involved with them. Thankfully Bryson is not one of those strange people who determinedly believe that just about any ‘upper class’ male in Shakespeare’s lifetime wrote the plays, and he swiftly deals with the crazy theories. There are some people who seem to think that anyone who wasn’t an aristocrat would have been barely able to read, never mind be well educated. No doubt they are the same people who believe that a school cannot be a good one – unless you pay richly for being allowed to be part of it. Obviously a nonsense.

This is a quick read at just 200  pages, which includes the bibliography. I enjoyed it.