No longer do we know more about Shakespeare's plays than the bard himself. This detailed account of his life in the early 1600s, when he wrote Othello, Measure for Measure, and King Lear, offers evidence from a wide variety of sources, including a court case – the only occasion on which his actual spoken words were recorded. "Extraordinary... Vance gives verve to the excellent writing... He paces the text and copious historical and literary quotations perfectly. This is a book that one wants never to end."—AudioFile