This volume in the Writers Lives series offers a reassessment of Shakespeare and his creative output from his earliest work through his 'mature' drama and the late plays, taking into account our current knowledge of Shakespeare's biography and consensus on key textual, critical and theatrical issues.William Baker offers a comprehensive but accessible introduction to Shakespeare's work and places it in the contexts of what is known of his life and activities. Avoiding speculation of a biographical, critical or textual nature, he focuses instead on an account of what is known of Shakespeare and his achievement at the end of the first decade of the twenty-first century. Table of ContentsPrefaceAcknowledgments1. Early Life: Birth, upbringing, family, marriage. England at the time2. London: The Elizabethan stage, the early History Plays.3. The Poems and Sonnets4. Working Dramatist: The Comedies5. Political Unrest: Elizabeth's last years6. The Tragedies7. The New Regime, the Problem Plays8. Shakespeare as Collaborator9. The Last Years: The Late Romances10. Conclusion: Shakespeare's life enshrined. The First Folio NotesBibliographyIndex