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This volume presents a winning selection of the very best essays from the long and distinguished career of Stanley Wells, one of the most well-known and respected Shakespeare scholars in the world. Wells´s accomplishments include editing the entire canon of Shakespeare plays for the ground-breaking Oxford Shakespeare, and over his lifetime he has made significant contributions to debates over literary criticism of the works, genre study, textual theory, Shakespeare´safterlife in the theatre, and contemporary performance. The volume is introduced by Peter Holland, and its thirty chapters are divided into themed sections: ´Shakespearian Influences´, ´Essays on Particular Works´, ´Shakespeare in the Theatre´, and ´Shakespeare´s Text´. An afterword by Margreta deGrazia concludes the volume.

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His breadth and judiciousness are generously on view in an essay "On Being a General Editor," with advice that I have long taken to heart as to whether notes should appear at the foot of the page, how to keep the text as free as possible from algebraic signs, how to persuade individual editors in a series to absorb and act upon the advice they are given, and much more. These are only a few instances of enlightenment afforded by this immensely valuable collection of essays. David Bevington, Renaissance Quarterly

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Stanley Wells, described by Roy Hattersley as ´Our greatest authority on Shakespeare´s life and work´, is honorary President of The Shakespeare Birthplace, Emeritus Professor of Shakespeare Studies of the University of Birmingham, and Honorary Emeritus Governor of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. For nearly twenty years he was the editor of the annual Shakespeare Survey. His most recent books are Shakespeare For All Time, Looking for Sex in Shakespeare,
Shakespeare, Sex, and Love, and Great Shakespeare Actors. He was knighted in 2016 for services to Shakespeare scholarship.

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Stanley Wells, described by Roy Hattersley as ´Our greatest authority on Shakespeare´s life and work´, is honorary President of The Shakespeare Birthplace, Emeritus Professor of Shakespeare Studies of the University of Birmingham, and Honorary Emeritus Governor of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. For nearly twenty years he was the editor of the annual Shakespeare Survey. His most recent books are Shakespeare For All Time, Looking for Sex in Shakespeare,Shakespeare, Sex, and Love, and Great Shakespeare Actors. He was knighted in 2016 for services to Shakespeare scholarship.

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