These volumes do something thought by many to be impossible - they add a refreshing and novel approach to the already over-crowded shelves of Shakespearian comment. Asimov's Guide to Shakespeare is an objective, scene-by-scene exploration of thirty-eight plays and two narrative poems in terms of their mythological, historical and geographic roots. It is not, says Dr. Asimov, a literary evaluation, but rather supplies the modern reader with a working knowledge of the topics which Shakespeare assumed his potential Elizabethan audience to be well versed in.

Volume One deals with the Greek, Roman and Italian plays.  With a liberal supply of maps, charts and quotations to supplement his text, Dr. Asimov presents the historical facts surrounding each play, while at the same time attempting to account for arising discrepancies.  He does not hesitate to regard Shakespeare as fallible, and when necessary he points out the English master's excessive distortion of historical fact.

Careful attention is given in each analysis to the maintenance of the story line so that the user of the Guide needs only to possess a marginal knowledge of any single play in order to ultimately reach a deeper appreciation for the dramatic genius of William Shakespeare.

From the dust jacket