I don't know if this is the decades-old version I have checked out from the library right now, but I'm assuming it's close enough. Holy cow. I've only read about 30 pages into the Julius Caesar portion, but I MUST buy this book. I do believe I have feigned reading Shakespeare until now. Holy cow. Silly me--I thought Asimov was just a Sci-Fi guy.

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I bought this book. ( )

It is not my intention to discuss the literary values of the plays, or to analyze them from a theatrical, philosophical, or psychological point of view. Others have done this far beyond any poor capacity I might have in that direction. [..] What I can do, however, is to go over each of the thirty-eight plays and two narrative poems written by Shakespeare in his quarter century of literary life, and explain, as I go along, the historical, legendary, and mythological background.


in "Asimov's Guide to Shakespeare" by Isaac Asimov

Read the rest on my blog, if you like. ( )

It proves that he couldn't only write good and solid SF, but he was also an astounding expert on Shakespeare. I'm trying to get my hands on the digital version of these books, but to no avail. Still, it's still one of my personal references on Shakespeare on paper (along with Shakespeare After All" by Marjorie Garber - this one I've got in digital form...)." ( )

I completely agree with the comments of the other reviewers about the reasons why the book by Azimov is so valuable. I received this book as a gift when I was about 17 years old, the same time as I was studying Macbeth and Hamlet in school. The year before that , I had studied The Taming of the Shrew. Yes, I did read Coles Notes and I had read all the notes and prefaces in the volumes of plays provided by the school. But when I opened this new huge volume after receiving it for Christmas, I felt that things like the family tree diagrams of the English royal family(ies) were things that I had been missing out on. The single-play volumes I had been studying had provided this information in paragraph form, and there was nothing wrong with that. It was just that for the first time I could really appreciate it all the family relationships in visual form. The history plays of course tend to have a lot more characters in the cast than some of the non-history plays, and I lose track of them quickly if I cannot refer back to the family tree chart.
After this, I went on a Shakespeare binge and read every single play 2 or 3 times over the next three or four years. I also went to the library, which at that time (the early 1980s) had LP recordings of all the plays, and listened to all of them with the book in hand.
Also, there were illustrated cartoon-like colour volumes at the library with all the text of the plays. I took these out and watched the pages of the cartoon while listening to the discs. I guess those would be called graphic novels now, or maybe that is a misnomer. A play and a novel are not the same thing.
I of course had no idea then, and I still am not an expert on graphic novels, but those volumes reminded me a lot of graphic novels that I started to see 25 years later. (I should look for these again. Truth is, I have not seen any of those in the library since that time. I am sure they must still be in print, at least some of them.) I would like to look at those again and see who the illustrators are.
But back to Azimov. Yes, he definitely helped me out with the history and all the knowledge background to get all the references that Shakespeare would have understood most or all of the people in his audience to already know about.
This summer, being now in midlife at 47 years old, I am trying to go back to some of the books that I read 30 years ago and do them all over again. This book is one of them that I have started reading through again, albeit, just one play at a time, because I am reading Henry VIII. This was prompted by having listened through to all of the 24 lectures in a series by Dale Hoak from The Great Courses, called The Age of Henry VIII. (I will also look to see if any audio books or audio lecture series like this one are reviewed on Library Thing.) ( )

This is an unparalleled reference to all of Shakespeare's plays. From the history behind and surrounding each play to insights on the jargon and jokes of Shakespeare's time - both of which are the basis of his thoughts and language - Asimov is there with you and providing the most intimate understanding required. You are given an overview to start, and then individual lines are giving extensive explanation where necessary.

Having this book on hand while first reading Shakespeare's plays, gives one an understanding that otherwise could take years and many readings to accomplish. ( )