William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was born to John Shakespeare and mother Mary Arden some time in late April 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon. He wrote about 38 plays (the precise number is uncertain), a collection of sonnets and a variety of other poems.


Stanley Wells is the General Editor of the Penguin Shakespeare. He is Emeritus Professor of the University of Birmingham and Chairman of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.

Emrys Jones was formerly Goldsmiths' Professor of English Literature at the University of Oxford. His publications include Scenic Form in Shakespeare, The Origins of Shakespeare, and The New Oxford Book of Sixteenth-Century Verse.

Rene Weis is Professor of English at University College London. He has edited King Lear (Longman) and Henry IV Part 2 (Oxford) and is the author of The Yellow Cross (Penguin). He is currently writing a biography of Shakespeare for John Murray.