He was no university man, but Will Shakespeare left a mark in the world such as no university man ever left before or since.

On the opening page of this fascinating book we see him, at the age of 22, riding to London to seek his fortune on the stage. His first interview was discouraging. "Go home to the provinces", advised James Burbage, noted actor and owner of England's first theater.

Unheeding, Shakespeare stayed. And during the next twenty-five years he wrote the plays that have been the wonder of the ages. He also had an important part in the building of the Globe Theater which has forever been coupled with his name. It was on this stage that Julius Caeser, Othello, King Lear and Macbeth first made their appearance. Captains and kings, nobles, merchants, ladies, citizens, soldiers, peasants—all whom Will called on stepped out of the shadows and lived again their little hour upon the stage.

As you read, you see the great plays born; you are with Shakespeare and his associates in Elizabethan London; you share their joys, sorrows, and triumphs.

From the little that is actually known of Shakespeare's life, Anne Terry White has made a living figure of the playwright from Stratford-on-Avon who left to the world its greatest plays.

From the book