This illustrated source book provides information on Shakespeare's life and times, his complete works and the great performances, songs, operas and films they have inspired, from Verdi's "Macbeth" to Olivier's "Hamlet". The handbook aims to distinguish fact from popular legend in Shakespeare's life and to provide a portrait of the Elizabethan world into which he was born and the Elizabethan and Jacobean theatre which he was to transform. Written by a team of leading international scholars under the editorship of Levi Fox, it gives an overview of Shakespeare's dramatic and poetic achievement with analyses, sources and influences. A chronological survey of the great Shakespeare performances, the songs, operas, ballets and musicals inspired by his writing, and the celebrated cinematic adaptations of his plays reveals the extent to which Shakespeare's work continues to be a major influence today.