The works of William Shakespeare can be intimidating monoliths for the uninitiated. Know It All Shakespeare is your chance to finally jump into the works of the Bard painlessly and without confusion.

Know It All: Shakespeare uses a unique approach to grapple with the work and influence of the world's most famous playwright. This absorbing crash course in William Shakespeare takes the reader through what we know of his life and then turns to uncoding key concepts, themes, and motifs in his plays and works. Finally, the reader is given a succinct look at the Bard's extraordinary literary and linguistic legacy.

More than just a study in Shakespeare's writing, Know It All: Shakeseare also looks at what we know about the Bard's life. Whether you're an amateur in the world of plays and poetry or are a well-read scholar, this succinct and easy-to-understand reference makes potentially material quick and easy to read. And the sleek, visually appealing design means to looks just as good on the shelf as it does in your hands.


The Know It All series takes a revolutionary approach to learning about the subjects you really feel you should understand but have never gotten around to studying. Each book selects a popular topic and dissects it into the 50 most significant ideas at its heart. Each idea, no matter how complex, is explained in 300 words and one picture, all digestible in under a minute.

Other titles in this series include: Know It All Anthropology, Know It All Chemistry, Know It All Classical Music, Know It All Energy, Know It All Fashion, Know It All Great Inventions, Know It All Jazz, Know It All Medicine,  Know It All Whiskey, Know It All Wine, Space In 30 Seconds, Sports in 30 Seconds.
 

Dr. Rosalind Barber is a lecturer on the MA course in Creative and Life Writing at Goldsmiths College, University of London, a Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Sussex, and Director of Research at the Shakespearean Authorship Trust. Her articles on Shakespeare and on Christopher Marlowe are widely published. She is author of The Marlowe Papers, published in 2012, and written entirely in Shakespearean blank verse. It was awarded the Desmond Elliott Prize, jointly awarded the Author's Club Best First Novel Award, and long-listed for the Women's Prize for Fiction.

Mark Rylance is an actor who recently appeared as Thomas Cromwell in the BBC's Wolf Hall. He is also a trustee of the Shakespearean Authorship Trust and an Honorary Bencher of The Middle Temple Hall. He was the Artistic Director of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre for ten years and wrote the play I Am Shakespeare.