If you're intrigued by the enigmatic figure of Shakespeare, this biography could add new dimensions to your understanding. Rather than just focus on his works, it delves into the personal and historical context of the Bard's life, providing a grounded perspective of the man behind the quill. It's a read that invites you into the human side of a literary colossus.

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This work starts with an Introduction by J.H. Stape, St Mary's University College, Strawberry Hill. First published in 1909, "The Man Shakespeare and his Tragic Life" is a lively biography of England and arguably the world's greatest playwright and poet by an ardent admirer. Pursuing the thesis that a man so elusive in the few surviving documents is found full blown in very one of his works, Frank Harris, a successful journalist and editor, turns his hand to creating an impressionistic portrait that is at once a highly idiosyncratic exploration of the plays and a telling of the life through them. A product of late-Victorian Bardolatry, Harris' Shakespeare was both hailed and criticised in its day, the "New York Times" reviewer declaring that 'This is the book for which we have waited a lifetime', while academic critics attacked it as 'nonsense'. Controversial and self-confident, this biographical study retains its interest as a work of period charm. Bristling with fresh, if not always convincing, arguments, combative in style, and with a full battery of belletristic effects, Harris, as ever, pulls off a tour de force.

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