Support Us
 
Search
MENUMENU
  • Nonfiction
        • Art
          • Architecture
          • Art History
          • Design, Illustration
          • Fashion & Style
          • Modern and Contemporary Art
          • Photography
        • Business
          • How to Invest
          • Leadership
          • Marketing
        • Economics
          • Behavioural Economics
          • Development Economics
          • Economic History
          • Finance
          • Financial Crisis
          • Globalisation & Inequality
          • World Economies
        • Environment
          • Climate Change
          • Environmental Ethics
        • Food & Cooking
          • Best Cookbooks
          • Food & History of Food
          • Wine & Drinks
        • Health & Lifestyle
          • Death & Dying
          • Education
          • Family & Relationships
          • Happiness
          • Sex & Sexuality
        • History
          • Ancient History
          • Early Modern History
          • Historical Figures
          • Medieval History
          • Modern History
          • Military History
        • Language
          • Grammar & Punctuation
          • Learning Languages
          • Linguistics
        • Law
        • Literary Nonfiction
          • Biography
          • Essays
          • Memoir
          • Famous Artists
          • Travel
          • True Crime
        • Music & Drama
          • Classical Music & Opera
          • Film & Cinema
          • Music
          • Theatre
        • Nature
          • Dinosaurs & the Prehistoric World
          • The Earth
          • Plants, Trees & Flowers
        • Philosophy
          • Ancient Philosophy
          • Ethics & Moral Philosophy
          • Great Philosophers
          • Social & Political Philosophy
        • Politics & Society
          • Conflict & War
          • Feminism
          • Foreign Policy & International Relations
          • Human Rights
          • Terrorism
        • Psychology
          • Mental Health
          • Neuroscience
          • Psychoanalysis
          • Psychology Research
          • Self Help
        • Religion
          • Best Atheist Books
          • Buddhism
          • Christian
          • Islamic
          • Jewish
          • Religious History
        • Science
          • Astronomy
          • Biology
          • Geoscience
          • Maths & Statistics
          • Moon Landing
          • Popular Science
          • Physics
        • Sports, Games & Hobbies
          • Football (Soccer)
          • Hobbies
          • Sport & Sporting Culture
        • Technology
          • Artificial Intelligence
          • Computing
          • Digital Age
          • History of Technology
          • Internet
        • Classical Studies
  • Fiction & Literature
        • Classic English Literature
        • Modern Classics
        • Contemporary Fiction
        • Literary Criticism
        • Literary Figures
        • Romance
        • Comics & Graphic Novels
        • Crime & Mysteries
        • Fairy Tales & Mythology
        • Historical Fiction
        • Horror
        • Humour
        • Memoir
        • Poetry
        • Science Fiction
        • Short Stories
        • Thrillers
  • World
        • Africa
          • Egypt
          • Nigeria
          • Rwanda
          • South Africa
          • Zimbabwe
        • Americas
          • Latin America
            • Argentina
            • Brazil
            • Chile
            • Cuba
            • Mexico
          • United States
          • Canada
        • Arctic & Antarctica
        • Asia
          • Afghanistan
          • Burma
          • China
          • India
          • Japan
          • Korea
          • Pakistan
          • Bangladesh
          • Sri Lanka
          • Singapore
          • Vietnam
        • Australia
        • Europe
          • Belgium
          • Britain
          • France
          • Germany
          • Greece
          • Ireland
          • Italy
          • Netherlands
          • Norway
        • Middle East
          • Iran
          • Iraq
          • Israel
          • Syria
          • Turkey
          • Yemen
        • Russia & FSU
          • Azerbaijan
          • Georgia
          • Russia
          • Ukraine
  • Kids
        • Ages 3-5
        • Ages 6-8
        • Ages 9-12
        • Young Adult
        • Economics
        • Family & Pets
        • Happiness & Mental Health
        • History
        • Music
        • Nature & Environment
        • Novels & Novelists
        • Philosophy
        • Politics & Current Affairs
        • Science
        • Sports
        • By Kids for Kids
  • Best Books of 2019
    • Nonfiction
    • Fiction
    • Crime Fiction
    • Science
    • Math
    • History
    • Biography
    • Economics
    • Self-Help
    • Philosophy
    • Memoir
    • Business
    • Poetry
    • Fiction in Translation
    • Historical Fiction
    • Politics
    • Fiction for Kids
    • Science for Kids
    • Science Fiction
    • Romance
    • Thrillers
  • New Books
    • All
    • Economics
    • Mathematics
    • Philosophy
    • Paperbacks
    • New Editions (of old books)
  • Audiobooks
    • Actors Read Great Books
    • Best Audiobooks for Kids
    • Books Narrated by Their Authors
  • Book Awards
  • Experts
  • Gifts
    • For Book Lovers
    • For Philosophers
    • For Keen Cooks
    • For Classicists
    • For Children
    • For Mathematicians
    • Christmas Books

The Best William Shakespeare Plays and Books

Most Recommended Books

Macbeth by William Shakespeare

“This debate informs the drama of Macbeth: we’re supposed to be horrified at the killing of King Duncan but also supposed to celebrate the killing of the second king, Macbeth. That’s really what the play asks us to do. But the only reason that works is that Shakespeare scants the coronation scene—Macbeth just comes in with the crown and we see him as a usurper—and in the second half of the play he’s called a tyrant about eight times and acts like one, especially in ordering the killing of Macduff’s wife and children. There’s also all that animal imagery—that he is really not a human being but a dog, and so on. “

Robert S Miola,

Read more

Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare

“What I really like about this play is its sexual playfulness. It seems very modern in that way. There’s no way to play it straight.”

Emma Smith, Literary Scholar

Read more

King Lear by William Shakespeare

“Lear is about all sorts of things but one of the things it’s about is people getting old and not ceding what their kids think they should to them and the kids trying to bully them.”

Kathleen Taylor, Science Writer

Read more

A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare

“It’s a play about Shakespeare’s own art. He is writing about the art of theatre and, more generally, about the imagination.”

Stanley Wells, Literary Scholar

Read more

Antony and Cleopatra by William Shakespeare

“Antony and Cleopatra is, in some ways, the most romantic of Shakespeare’s plays. It takes over, in a way, from Romeo and Juliet. Romeo and Juliet gives a wonderful exploration of young love, of first love, of romantic attitudes to love. Antony and Cleopatra are mature lovers. They are seasoned. They are disillusioned. It’s an extraordinarily rich play, poetically—as Romeo and Juliet is—but the poetry of Antony and Cleopatra is that of a mature person who has gone through a lot of experiences himself and is capable of expressing the disillusionment of middle-aged love as well as the raptures of it. “

Stanley Wells, Literary Scholar

Read more

Five Books has a series of interviews with world-leading Shakespeare scholars discussing the best William Shakespeare plays and the best books on William Shakespeare.

Disillusioned when forced to study him at school but ready to engage with Shakespeare plays again? Or do you already know your Hamlet from your Lear but are keen to explore more about the man? Even if you are completely new to Shakespeare, our interviews with the world’s foremost Shakespeare experts will set you on the right path.

These include:

Sir Stanley Wells, honorary president of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust in Stratford, and General Editor of The Complete Oxford Shakespeare; Emma Smith, Professor of Shakespeare Studies at Oxford University, and acclaimed expert of Shakespeare’s First Folio; and James Shapiro, Professor of English at Columbia University, and award-winning author of Contested Will: Who Wrote Shakespeare? and 1606: William Shakespeare and the Year of Lear.

We will continue to grow this series on Shakespeare plays and the best William Shakespeare books.

Knowing I loved my books, he furnished me
From mine own library with volumes that
I prize above my dukedom.
(The Tempest, I. 2)

    Robert S Miola on Shakespeare’s Sources

  • Read
    Robert S Miola on Shakespeare’s Sources - Metamorphoses Ovid (translated by A D Melville)

    1

    Metamorphoses
    Ovid (translated by A D Melville)

  • Read
    Robert S Miola on Shakespeare’s Sources - Roman Lives Plutarch (trans. Robin Waterfield)

    2

    Roman Lives
    Plutarch (trans. Robin Waterfield)

  • Read
    Robert S Miola on Shakespeare’s Sources - Four Comedies Plautus (ed. Erich Segal)

    3

    Four Comedies
    Plautus (ed. Erich Segal)

  • Read
    Robert S Miola on Shakespeare’s Sources - Six Tragedies Seneca (translated by Emily Wilson)

    4

    Six Tragedies
    Seneca (translated by Emily Wilson)

  • Read
    Robert S Miola on Shakespeare’s Sources - Holinshed's Chronicles by Raphael Holinshed

    5

    Holinshed's Chronicles
    by Raphael Holinshed

Robert S Miola on Shakespeare’s Sources

William Shakespeare has a strong claim to be the most influential writer of all time. But whose works influenced him? And how? Robert S Miola discusses the breadth of Shakespeare’s reading, the vexed question of how we can reconstruct what he read, and the staggeringly innovative ways that Shakespeare shaped his sources

    Shakespeare’s Best Plays, recommended by Emma Smith

  • Read
    Shakespeare’s Best Plays - Macbeth by William Shakespeare

    1

    Macbeth
    by William Shakespeare

  • Read
    Shakespeare’s Best Plays - Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare

    2

    Measure for Measure
    by William Shakespeare

  • Read
    Shakespeare’s Best Plays - Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare

    3

    Twelfth Night
    by William Shakespeare

  • Read
    Shakespeare’s Best Plays - Pericles by William Shakespeare

    4

    Pericles
    by William Shakespeare

  • Read
    Shakespeare’s Best Plays - Richard II by William Shakespeare

    5

    Richard II
    by William Shakespeare

Shakespeare’s Best Plays, recommended by Emma Smith

Shakespearean scholar Emma Smith picks her five favourite plays of the Bard, and controversially argues that not only are some of his plays just too long, but also that the most moving moments in Shakespeare’s oeuvre are where we might not expect them

    Stanley Wells recommends the best of Shakespeare’s Plays

  • Read
    Stanley Wells recommends the best of Shakespeare’s Plays - King Lear by William Shakespeare

    1

    King Lear
    by William Shakespeare

  • Read
    Stanley Wells recommends the best of Shakespeare’s Plays - A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare

    2

    A Midsummer Night’s Dream
    by William Shakespeare

  • Read
    Stanley Wells recommends the best of Shakespeare’s Plays - The Winter's Tale by William Shakespeare

    3

    The Winter's Tale
    by William Shakespeare

  • Read
    Stanley Wells recommends the best of Shakespeare’s Plays - Antony and Cleopatra by William Shakespeare

    4

    Antony and Cleopatra
    by William Shakespeare

  • Read
    Stanley Wells recommends the best of Shakespeare’s Plays - Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare

    5

    Twelfth Night
    by William Shakespeare

Stanley Wells recommends the best of Shakespeare’s Plays

In our Shakespeare series, we ask experts to select their favourite plays from the Bard’s oeuvre. Here, preeminent Shakespearean scholar Sir Stanley Wells chooses five plays that best chart the evolution of the Bard of Avon during his 25-year career.

    René Weis on The Best Plays of Shakespeare

  • Read
    René Weis on The Best Plays of Shakespeare - King Lear by William Shakespeare

    1

    King Lear
    by William Shakespeare

  • Read
    René Weis on The Best Plays of Shakespeare - A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare

    2

    A Midsummer Night’s Dream
    by William Shakespeare

  • Read
    René Weis on The Best Plays of Shakespeare - Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

    3

    Romeo and Juliet
    by William Shakespeare

  • Read
    René Weis on The Best Plays of Shakespeare - Antony and Cleopatra by William Shakespeare

    4

    Antony and Cleopatra
    by William Shakespeare

  • Read
    René Weis on The Best Plays of Shakespeare - Macbeth by William Shakespeare

    5

    Macbeth
    by William Shakespeare

René Weis on The Best Plays of Shakespeare

In the second of a Five Books series marking the 400th year since the world’s most popular playwright’s death, eminent Shakespearean René Weis picks his five favourite plays, and explains why King Lear will change your life.

    The best books on Shakespeare’s Life, recommended by James Shapiro

  • Read
    The best books on Shakespeare’s Life - Outlines of the Life of Shakespeare by James Orchard Halliwell-Phillipps

    1

    Outlines of the Life of Shakespeare
    by James Orchard Halliwell-Phillipps

  • Read
    The best books on Shakespeare’s Life - William Shakespeare by E K Chambers

    2

    William Shakespeare
    by E K Chambers

  • Read
    The best books on Shakespeare’s Life - Shakespeare’s Lives by S Schoenbaum

    3

    Shakespeare’s Lives
    by S Schoenbaum

  • Read
    The best books on Shakespeare’s Life - The Lodger by Charles Nicholl

    4

    The Lodger
    by Charles Nicholl

  • Read
    The best books on Shakespeare’s Life - William Shakespeare by Peter Holland

    5

    William Shakespeare
    by Peter Holland

The best books on Shakespeare’s Life, recommended by James Shapiro

Writing a traditional biography of Shakespeare is impossible, says Shakespeare scholar James Shapiro. But here he selects the best five books that tackle the life of the Bard.

    Best Shakespeare Books for Kids, recommended by Natasha

  • Read
    Best Shakespeare Books for Kids - Illustrated Stories from Shakespeare by Anna Claybourne, Rosie Dickins & William Shakespeare

    1

    Illustrated Stories from Shakespeare
    by Anna Claybourne, Rosie Dickins & William Shakespeare

  • Read
    Best Shakespeare Books for Kids - The Shakespeare Stories by Andrew Matthews

    2

    The Shakespeare Stories
    by Andrew Matthews

  • Read
    Best Shakespeare Books for Kids - To Wee or Not to Wee by Pamela Butchart

    3

    To Wee or Not to Wee
    by Pamela Butchart

  • Read
    Best Shakespeare Books for Kids - Macbeth by Conrad Mason

    4

    Macbeth
    by Conrad Mason

  • Read
    Best Shakespeare Books for Kids - Twelfth Night by Rosie Dickins

    5

    Twelfth Night
    by Rosie Dickins

Best Shakespeare Books for Kids, recommended by Natasha

Are you longing to get your children as excited about Shakespeare as you are? There’s a lot of books out there to introduce kids to the Bard. Here, Natasha, a 10-year old living in Oxfordshire, recommends some of her favourite retellings of Shakespeare stories.

About

We ask experts to recommend the five best books in their subject and explain their selection in an interview.

This site has an archive of more than one thousand interviews, or five thousand book recommendations. We publish at least two new interviews per week.

Five Books participates in the Amazon Associate program and earns money from qualifying purchases.

Newsletter Contact us Privacy Policy Terms of Service

© Five Books 2019