Of all the Shakespeare biographies this is the most sensible I have seen. Bryson is careful to make clear how little is known of Shakespeare and how most of what is said about him is speculation. The final chapter where he effectively eviscerates those who question Shakespeare’s authorship is, by itself, worth the read.
The book is brief and to the point. And the point is a big book about the Bard’s life can’t be written without filling it with speculation. There is nothing mysterious or shady about the lack of information though. There is little information on anyone or anything from that era. There is but a single sketch of any Elizabethan theatre (and it isn’t the Globe) for example. The diary of a tourist (that didn’t speak English) provides a large portion of the information on drama of the period. After painstakingly following the tiny but of information on Shakespeare’s life, Bryson gives a brief history of the scholarship studying the great writer. This again points to many misdirect ions untruths and exaggerations.
As mentioned above, Bryosn uses all of this information to easily discredit the theories around authorship. He provided the most detail to the theories around Bacon and today’s fashionable phantom, Oxford.
Just like TV news sensationalism sells. There is little money in common sense, but this book makes far more sense than other, Shakespeare by Another Name for one. ( )

A very short, concise biography, which paints a good picture of Elizabethan times and debunks all the myths about Shakespeare not actually writing his plays. ( )

Excellent read, manages to be highly entertaining as well as informative. ( )

William Shakespeare, the most celebrated poet in the English language, left behind nearly a million words of text, but his biography has long been a thicket of wild supposition arranged around scant facts. With a steady hand and his trademark wit, Bill Bryson sorts through this colorful muddle to reveal the man himself. His Shakespeare is like no one else's—the beneficiary of Bryson's genial nature, his engaging skepticism, and a gift for storytelling unrivaled in our time.

Bryson could make about anything interesting. Only he can manage to write a gripping tale about Shakespeare and still be truthful and funny. ( )