Michael P. Jensen has authored more than a hundred articles and chapters in books on William Shakespeare. He is a Contributing Editor for Shakespeare Newsletter.

• PrefaceA Note on the Text?Introduction: What was Radio?Chapter One: Preliminary Bouts: Shakespeare on American Radio before the BattleChapter Two: In this Corner: Streamlined ShakespeareChapter Three: And in that Corner: The Columbia Shakespeare CycleChapter Four: And the Winner is?: Aftermath, Afterlives, After Shows, and Alternative ShowsAfterword: A Brief Murky Consideration of Recreational Shakespeare as a Concept in Light of the Battle with Some Personal ReflectionsAn external website maintained by the author provides photos and audio clips: http://www.michaelpjensen.com/battle_of_the_bard_photos (for the photos) and http://www.michaelpjensen.com/battle_of_the_bard_photos/battle_of_the_bard_audio (for the audio links).

One of the most useful and entertaining books I have ever read on Shakespeare's theatrical history. - Prof. Grace Tiffany, Western Michigan University[-][-]"Who owns Shakespeare? Most of us would say we all do but, in 1937, NBC and CBS fought it out as to the rights to argue that Shakespeare was their domain. Michael P. Jensen has brought back to life this extraordinary and almost completely forgotten Battle for the Bard on the radio with superb research and an engaging style that takes us right into the heart of the firstmass medium and its astonishing popularity in the 1930s as well as the networks' competing claims for the cultural high ground of owning Shakespeare. More than simply a study of Shakespeare on radio, this study speaks of the ways in which U.S. mass-media, then and now, negotiate with prestige culture." - Prof. Peter Holland, University of Notre Dame

Michael P. Jensen has authored more than a hundred articles and chapters in books on William Shakespeare. He is a Contributing Editor for Shakespeare Newsletter.

• PrefaceA Note on the Text?Introduction: What was Radio?Chapter One: Preliminary Bouts: Shakespeare on American Radio before the BattleChapter Two: In this Corner: Streamlined ShakespeareChapter Three: And in that Corner: The Columbia Shakespeare CycleChapter Four: And the Winner is?: Aftermath, Afterlives, After Shows, and Alternative ShowsAfterword: A Brief Murky Consideration of Recreational Shakespeare as a Concept in Light of the Battle with Some Personal ReflectionsAn external website maintained by the author provides photos and audio clips: http://www.michaelpjensen.com/battle_of_the_bard_photos (for the photos) and http://www.michaelpjensen.com/battle_of_the_bard_photos/battle_of_the_bard_audio (for the audio links).

One of the most useful and entertaining books I have ever read on Shakespeare's theatrical history. - Prof. Grace Tiffany, Western Michigan University[-][-]"Who owns Shakespeare? Most of us would say we all do but, in 1937, NBC and CBS fought it out as to the rights to argue that Shakespeare was their domain. Michael P. Jensen has brought back to life this extraordinary and almost completely forgotten Battle for the Bard on the radio with superb research and an engaging style that takes us right into the heart of the firstmass medium and its astonishing popularity in the 1930s as well as the networks' competing claims for the cultural high ground of owning Shakespeare. More than simply a study of Shakespeare on radio, this study speaks of the ways in which U.S. mass-media, then and now, negotiate with prestige culture." - Prof. Peter Holland, University of Notre Dame

Michael P. Jensen has authored more than a hundred articles and chapters in books on William Shakespeare. He is a Contributing Editor for Shakespeare Newsletter.

• PrefaceA Note on the Text?Introduction: What was Radio?Chapter One: Preliminary Bouts: Shakespeare on American Radio before the BattleChapter Two: In this Corner: Streamlined ShakespeareChapter Three: And in that Corner: The Columbia Shakespeare CycleChapter Four: And the Winner is?: Aftermath, Afterlives, After Shows, and Alternative ShowsAfterword: A Brief Murky Consideration of Recreational Shakespeare as a Concept in Light of the Battle with Some Personal ReflectionsAn external website maintained by the author provides photos and audio clips: http://www.michaelpjensen.com/battle_of_the_bard_photos (for the photos) and http://www.michaelpjensen.com/battle_of_the_bard_photos/battle_of_the_bard_audio (for the audio links).

One of the most useful and entertaining books I have ever read on Shakespeare's theatrical history. - Prof. Grace Tiffany, Western Michigan University[-][-]"Who owns Shakespeare? Most of us would say we all do but, in 1937, NBC and CBS fought it out as to the rights to argue that Shakespeare was their domain. Michael P. Jensen has brought back to life this extraordinary and almost completely forgotten Battle for the Bard on the radio with superb research and an engaging style that takes us right into the heart of the firstmass medium and its astonishing popularity in the 1930s as well as the networks' competing claims for the cultural high ground of owning Shakespeare. More than simply a study of Shakespeare on radio, this study speaks of the ways in which U.S. mass-media, then and now, negotiate with prestige culture." - Prof. Peter Holland, University of Notre Dame