This work offers a comprehensive, accessible and lucid coverage of the major issues and key figures in Shakespeare studies, designed to facilitate progression from introductory topics to more sophisticated approaches. The Shakespeare Handbook is an accessible and comprehensive introduction to Shakespeare and early modern literature. It provides a one-stop resource for students with the essential information and guidance needed from the beginning of a course through to developing more advanced knowledge and skills. It includes: introductions to key authors, texts and contexts; guides to key critics, concepts and topics; an overview of major critical approaches, changes in the canon and directions of current and future research; case studies in reading literary and theoretical and critical texts; and, annotated further reading (including websites), timeline, glossary of critical terms.Written in clear language by leading academics, it is an indispensable starting point for anyone beginning their study of Shakespeare. Literature and Culture Handbooks are an innovative series of guides to major periods, topics and authors in British and American literature and culture. Designed to provide a comprehensive, one-stop resource for literature students, each handbook provides the essential information and guidance needed from the beginning of a course through to developing more advanced knowledge and skills.