Wood, Michael. Shakespeare.

WOOD, Michael. Shakespeare. Perseus. 352p. illus. bibliog. index. c2003. 0-465-09265-9. $17.95. SA

This book is a companion to the 2003 BBC series In Search of Shakespeare, which later aired on PBS. Michael Wood is an author, broadcaster, and filmmaker with over 80 documentaries to his credit. As Wood explains, "an important key to Shakespeare's thought world is the traditional society of Warwickshire and the conflicts engendered in it by the Tudor Reformation." He argues logically that because the Reformation has been reexamined by scholars in the last 30 years, our understanding of the life of Shakespeare needs a similar reexamination.

With extensive use of documents from that era and in direct and readable prose, Wood explores the mysteries, myths, and ambiguities that surround the life of Shakespeare. Although he was born in Stratford, both sides of his family were associated with small villages in the Forest of Arden, and it is Warwickshire that is the "focus of the ideological struggles of the time." His mother and his father were likely "church papists," those who resisted Queen Elizabeth's suppression of Catholicism. Wood suggests that this "world of conflicting viewpoints" undoubtedly affected the work of Shakespeare. As for the "lost years," Wood suggests that Shakespeare may have been writing for the Queen's Men in the late 1580s. He even argues that a painting of an unknown young man done in 1588 is, in fact, that of a young Shakespeare firmly established in London. Wood gives the reader a sense of life in London and of the vitality of the emerging theater.

A defining moment in the life of Shakespeare as an artist and as a man was the death of his son, Hamnet, in 1596. This tragic event left him vulnerable. It was in the following year that the first of his sonnets were written. Wood contends that the young boy of the sonnets is William Herbert and that the dark lady of the sonnets is Emilia Bassano Lanier. Beyond merely identifying them, Wood speculates that Shakespeare was in love with both of them and that Herbert and Lanier had an affair. As with many of Wood's postulations, although not conclusive, the evidence is persuasively presented.

The book itself is finely done on quality paper with numerous illustrations in color. Although many biographies of Shakespeare exist, this one should definitely find a place in your collection. Anthony Pucci, English Dept. Chair., Notre Dame H.S., Elmira. NY

S--Recommended for senior high school students.

A--Recommended for advanced students and adults. This code will help librarians and teachers working in high schools where there are honors and advanced placement students. This also will help extend KLIATT's usefulness in public libraries.