Written with intuition and imagination, this marvellous biography positions Shakespeare in the close context of his world. Ackroyd writes about Shakespeare the actor, playwright and poet, and also about his circle of patrons and managers, actors and fellow writers. He also imparts an amazing amount of vivid material about place, period and background as he travels through 16th century Stratford and London. The book is neither academic nor didactic; it is an attempt at immediate and intimate communion with Shakespeare himself.