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 Two deals with the fifteen plays distinctively rooted in English history.  Dr. Asimov enhances the value of the central objective of the text as he explores the literary and linguistic history of particularly powerful Shakespearian images.  He also attempts to broaden the dimension of individual characters by approximating their ages through references by Shakespeare to specific historical events.  

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