Cover of Understanding Shakespeare's Plays

Understanding Shakespeare's Plays

A Candid Companion to all the Drama
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Understanding Shakespeare's Plays

By: Kent Lehnhof
Narrated by: John Chancer
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‘A brilliant book with absolutely everything you’d want to know about all of Shakespeare’s plays, from someone who really knows their stuff.’ – Matthew Nichols, Manchester Grammar School, UK.

Are you curious about why Shakespeare’s plays remain so popular four centuries since they were written? Could you use a companion to plays you’ll be studying or seeing? This guide will accelerate your comprehension, sharpen your insight, expand your vision and improve your experience of Shakespeare’s dramatic works.

Understanding Shakespeare’s Plays is an easy-to-use reference that gives you a way into every play in the canon through a combination of enriching information, eye-opening analysis and frank discussion. You’ll be introduced to each play’s history and use of sources, gain an overview of the dramatic action and offered an exploration of key moments and choices that define the work.

Whereas other guidebooks present the plays neutrally, or only comment on a small selection of favourites, this one provides an accessible introduction to every single play and acknowledges that not all of them are perfect gems. Understanding Shakespeare Plays is unique – and uniquely helpful – in offering not only a sophisticated understanding of each play but also a candid review of its accomplishments and challenges, enabling you to make informed decisions about what to read or see and what to look for when you do.

This is the book to get if you want to get Shakespeare.©2026 Kent Lehnhof (P)2026 Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
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Reviews

The book offers an entirely comprehensive coverage of WS’ output and the author’s scholarly credentials and experience make it look as though he is ideally positioned to write this book. There seems to be a deliberate and consistent effort in the proposal (and, in reality, in the sample chapters) to ensure that the book is accessible, chatty, fun and one which wouldn’t gather dust. Emphatically not an encyclopedia, it takes each of the Bard’s plays and holds them under a microscope. I enjoyed the sample chapters a lot.

I think this is the sort of book that schools would buy so that every library, English classroom and Drama office had one. Additionally, it would be a great addition to theatre bookshops and a wonderful gift. Big international appeal also with a pleasing eye (based on the chapters available) on non-Western productions.
I can imagine this book being read, enjoyed, and used by individual students who discover a passion for Shakespeare or who are curious about the plays and why they are so popular. I can also see particular sections being useful for assigned readings in high school or college-level introductions to particular plays.
This is an extraordinarily ambitious project making for a heavyweight tome (however lighthearted the tone). The author manages to convey a good deal of factual information among areas of open-ended discussion. Referencing is very light touch – in general a paragraph at the end of a chapter to flag up where further information can be found about specific topics. As a contribution to Shakespeare textbooks, it’s undoubtedly the only work of this kind to address this quantity of material in a determinedly non-academic fashion. The two introductory chapters effectively signal ways of reading the book and introduce the open-endedness of reading Shakespeare – one of the author’s real strengths is his insistence on ‘ambiguity … and plurality’.
The writing is charismatic and an broad introduction to plays written accessibly might well appeal to a range of readers. The proposal is thorough (it includes all plays, including those of contested authorship) and has a clear internal structure followed in each chapter. Rather than presenting new research per se (though there are some unique perspectives offered), it is intended to offer a way into the plays for people new to Shakespeare.
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