"This brilliant and inspirational book offers new insight into the work and world of William Shakespeare and offers fresh demonstration of his relevance for our own lives and troubles. At once immensely erudite and extraordinarily accessible, Maguire shows how broken-hearts, dysfunctional families, domestic violence, and other personal and social problems, was all grist for Shakespeare's theatrical imagination. Alongside unflinching criticism of a world-gone-wrong, Shakespeare also offered his audiences solace and hope. The top book on Shakespeare this year, Studying Shakespeare should be on everyone's bookshelf and on The Times Best Seller list." Dypmna Callaghan "Maguire's book is fiesty, informative and stimulating." Atlantis