> Skip to content
Play sample
  • Published: 15 September 2018
  • ISBN: 9780099599623
  • Imprint: Vintage
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 336
  • RRP: $32.99

Shakespeare for Grown-ups

Everything you Need to Know about the Bard




Does your shaky knowledge of Shakespeare put you to shame? The only guide to the great bard you will ever need to bring you up to scratch!


'Rather jolly and very helpful’ The Times

Need to swot up on your Shakespeare? The ultimate guide to the Bard, perfect for the Shakespeare aficionado and general reader alike.

If you’ve always felt a bit embarrassed at your precarious grasp on the plot of Othello, or you haven’t a clue what a petard (as in ‘hoist with his own petard’) actually is, then fear not, because this, at last, is the perfect guide to the Bard.

From the authors of the number-one bestselling Homework for Grown-ups, Shakespeare for Grown-ups is the essential book for anyone keen to deepen their knowledge of they plays and sonnets.

For parents helping with their children’s homework, casual theatre-goers who want to enhance their enjoyment of the most popular plays and the general reader who feels they should probably know more about Britain’s most splendid scribe, Shakespeare for Grown-ups covers Shakespeare's time; his personal life; his language; his key themes; his less familiar works and characters; his most famous speeches and quotations; phrases and words that have entered general usage, and much more.

  • Published: 15 September 2018
  • ISBN: 9780099599623
  • Imprint: Vintage
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 336
  • RRP: $32.99

About the authors

Elizabeth Foley

Elizabeth Foley is an author and editor living in London. With Beth Coates she is the author of Homework for Grown-ups, Advanced Homework for Grown-ups and the Homework for Grown-ups Quiz Book. Shakespeare for Grown-ups was published in 2014.

Beth Coates

Beth Coates is an author and editor living in London. With Elizabeth Foley she is the bestselling author of Homework for Grown-ups, Advanced Homework for Grown-ups and The Homework for Grown-ups Quiz Book. Shakespeare for Grown-ups was published in 2014.

Praise for Shakespeare for Grown-ups

Rather jolly and very helpful

The Times

This fascinating and fun volume delves into all things Shakespeare and will appeal to novices and experts alike... light, accessible, and engaging... Included in this book are synopses of all of Shakespeare's works and his life and times, key influences, language and style, controversies, and famous quotations. An entertaining and highly informative read, this is essential for students and scholars, theatergoers wanting to familiarize themselves with a particular work, and general readers who are simply curious about one of the most famous and influential playwrights of all time

Library Journal