"Demystifies the man and the artist. . . . Expertly evokes the townscape and landscape in and around Stratford, and the corresponding mindscape that vividly merges the urban and the rustic." -The New York Times"William Shakespeare's London comes to life with remarkable immediacy and clarity. . . . Ackroyd's research is impressive."-San Francisco Chronicle"Ackroyd provides the sights and sounds (and smells) of Stratford and London until you'd swear Shakespeare was right at your elbow, sipping ale."-The Philadelphia Inquirer "Captures the thrill of London and of a theater emerging, in a 'hard and disenchanted age, ' to replace the church as the center of communal spectacle."-The Wall Street Journal"Creates a tapestry of Elizabethan London so rich that you feel you've been there." -Independent on Sunday