This compact and portable volume will quickly enlighten readers and enhance their enjoyment of both the written word and the plays in performance. For each of Shakespeare's 39 plays there is a synopsis of the plot, a list of characters and notes on the chief figures, and a resume of the performance history. The book also includes a critique on the poems and sonnets, a history of the Shakespearean theatre and the early players, a background to the Apocrypha of plays attributed to Shakespeare, and a selected glossary of Elizabethan English. The book is readily consultable on the spot and will enhance the enjoyment of any Shakespearean production.