Fun and informative
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I found this book extremely informative (there's a huge amount of information in here) and at the same time great fun. While I understand that the the glossy presentation (very similar to DK's Eyewitness Travel series) might not be to everyone's taste, I actually found it very attractive, and didn't find that it detracted from the well written and well researched content. It has also been recommended by Kenneth Branagh, and two former directors of the National Theatre, no less.
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Essential Shakespeare Handbook
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This is a most informative and impressive guide. An invaluable handbook for anyone studying or planning a visit to any of Shakespeare's plays. In fact, I was so impressed I have recommended it to several friends and colleagues and plan to give it as a gift wherever I can.
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As glossy and colourful as Disneyworld
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This is a very American sort of Shakespeare reference work, i.e. it isn't about conveying real knowledge, just about creating a general feel-good, affirmatory sort of effect. It states all kinds of half-proved hypotheses as though they were established facts, and uses all sorts of dubious pictures without distinguishing the ones that have any authority as evidence from the ones that just happened to be cheap to reproduce. It's fun to flick through and will suit American high-school teachers fairly well, but if you actually want to know about the subject you want a proper grown-up reference book like the Oxford Companion to Shakespeare (which is just as easy to read, and often has better pictures) or the Blackwell Companion to Shakespeare.
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