William Shakespeare: A Biography

by A.L. Rowse

Preface
Illustrations
Elizabethian Warwickshire
Stratford town
Family, school, church
Youth & marriage
London: the armada years
Apprenticeship
Reputation
The early comedies
Friendship
The story of the sonnets
Romance & reality
England's past
The late nineties
Between two worlds
The great tragedies
The romances
New place
Notes
Index

Genres: Biography, Shakespeare, Nonfiction, Biography Memoir, History, Theatre

503 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1963

About the author

Alfred Leslie Rowse, CH FBA, known professionally as A. L. Rowse and to his friends and family as Leslie, was a prolific Cornish historian. He is perhaps best known for his poetry about Cornwall and his work on Elizabethan England. He was also a Shakespearean scholar and biographer. He developed a widespread reputation for irascibility and intellectual arrogance.

One of Rowse's great enthusiasms was collecting books, and he owned many first editions, many of them bearing his acerbic annotations. For example, his copy of the January 1924 edition of The Adelphi magazine edited by John Middleton Murry bears a pencilled note after Murry's poem In Memory of Katherine Mansfield: 'Sentimental gush on the part of JMM. And a bad poem. A.L.R.'

Upon his death in 1997 he bequeathed his book collection to the University of Exeter, and his personal archive of manuscripts, diaries, and correspondence. In 1998 the University Librarian selected about sixty books from Rowse’s own working library and a complete set of his published books. The Royal Institution of Cornwall selected some of the remaining books, and the rest were sold to dealers.

Reviews

[J. Alfred · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a rambling, self-congradulatory, hero-worshipping book that doesn't give any useful big picture background but gets caught up with any amount of detail that fails to interest without the necessary background.
However, it is, apparently, also the accepted chronology and what seems like the most likely historical grounding for the topical references in Shakespeare's works. So: sort of useful, but very much a chore. If there is a shorter and better work which does the same thing more memorably, I'd like to know about it.

[Ishita Choudhari]

I think that this book was good but I found it boring because I like fiction better than no-fiction. I was fun to learn about William Shakespeare, I think that his work is amazing and want to read Romeo and Juliet. The writing was a little difficult to read because of I couldn't understand some words. I would recommend this book to those of my classmates that like learning about people,but I wouldn't recommend this to people like me who only like reading fiction. If this book was a series, I don't think I would read it.

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderfully easy and enjoyable biography on Shakespeare. Well worth reading for a glimpse into his life and times.