What's so special about Shakespeare? What do we actually know about him? What was it like to live in Shakespeare's time? These are just a few of the questions addressed in this compelling book by award-winning author and lifelong Shakespeare fan, Michael Rosen. As well as facts about the bard's life, the theatre of his day and the Elizabethan era in general, Rosen provides lively studies of four major plays Macbeth, A Midsummer Night's Dream, King Lear and The Tempest - and a fascinating analysis of a scene from Romeo and Juliet. The superb text is accompanied by scene after breathtaking scene of Robert Ingpen's dramatic and stunning illustrations. This is a book in which Shakespeare lives!