The Shakespeare Circle

Paul Edmondson is Head of Research at The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. He has authored and co-edited numerous articles and books on Shakespeare, including Shakespeare's Sonnets (with Stanley Wells, 2004), The Shakespeare Handbooks: Twelfth Night (2005) and Shakespeare: Ideas in Profile (2015). Stanley Wells, CBE, FRSL, is Honorary President at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. His many books include Shakespeare: For All Time (2002), Looking for Sex in Shakespeare (2004), Shakespeare & Co. (2006), Shakespeare, Sex, and Love (2010) and Great Shakespeare Actors (2015). He edited Shakespeare Survey for almost twenty years, and is co-editor of The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare on Stage (with Sarah Stanton, Cambridge, 2002) and The New Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare (with Margreta de Grazia, Cambridge, 2010). He is also the General Editor of the Oxford and Penguin editions of Shakespeare.

'Wonderfully conceived and executed, and drawing on the expertise of some of the finest literary historians at work today, The Shakespeare Circle offers a richly rewarding alternative to the 'cradle to grave' biography, allowing us to see Shakespeare afresh through the lives of his friends, relatives, neighbours, fellow actors and rivals.' James Shapiro, Columbia University, New York

• General introduction Paul Edmondson and Stanley Wells; Part I. Family: 1. His mother Mary Shakespeare Michael Wood; 2. His father John Shakespeare David Fallow; 3. His siblings Catherine Richardson; 4. His sister's family: the Harts Cathy Shrank; 5. His wife Anne Shakespeare and the Hathaways Katherine Scheil; 6. His daughter Susanna Hall Lachlan Mackinnon; 7. His son-in-law John Hall Greg Wells; 8. His son Hamnet Shakespeare Graham Holderness; 9. His daughter Judith and the Quineys Germaine Greer; 10. His granddaughter Lady Elizabeth Barnard René Weis; 11. His 'cousin': Thomas Greene Tara Hamling; Part II. Friends and Neighbours: 12. A close family connection: the Combes Stanley Wells; 13. Schoolfriend, publisher and printer Richard Field Carol Chillington Rutter; 14. Living with the Mountjoys David Kathman; 15. Ben Jonson David Riggs; 16. Richard Barnfield, John Weever, William Basse and other encomiasts Andrew Hadfield; 17. Last things: Shakespeare's neighbours and beneficiaries Susan Brock; Part III. Colleagues and Patrons: 18. His fellow dramatists and early collaborators Andy Kesson; 19. His theatre friends: the Burbages John H. Astington; 20. His fellow actors Will Kemp, Robert Armin and other members of the Lord Chamberlain's Men and the King's Men Bart Van Es; 21. His literary patrons Alan H. Nelson; 22. His collaborator George Wilkins Duncan Salkeld; 23. His collaborator Thomas Middleton Emma Smith; 24. His collaborator John Fletcher Lucy Munro; 25. His editors John Heminges and Henry Condell Paul Edmondson; Closing remarks Paul Edmondson and Stanley Wells; Afterword Margaret Drabble; Index.