A Glossary and Language Companion

Shakespeare's Words

'This is what everybody who loves Shakespeare has been looking for' Michael Wood.

David Crystal is one of the most authoritative commentators on the English language, and amongst many other things a contributor to the Oxford Companion to Shakespeare. He lives in Anglesey, Wales.  Ben Crystal, David's son,  is an actor and lives in London (NW1).  Stanley Wells, who has written the preface, is General Editor of the Oxford Shakespeare and Associate Editor of the New Penguin Shakespeare series.

A vital resource for scholars, students and actors, this book contains glosses and quotes for over 14,000 words that could be misunderstood by or are unknown to a modern audience.  Displayed panels look at such areas of Shakespeare's language as greetings, swear-words and terms of address. Plot summaries are included for all Shakespeare's plays and on the facing page is a unique diagramatic representation of the relationships within each play.

David Crystal

Ben Crystal

This compilation, in the tradition of the Victorian miscellany, gathers together essential facts and fascinating insights into the plays and poems, the man behind them (insofar as this is known), and the context in which he worked. Put together by an actor and a linguist - the pair who brought you 'Shakespeare's Words' (25000 copies sold to date) - it will be quirky, illuminating and endlessly interesting. Topics covered include lost plays, what he would have studied at school, Shakespeare's pronunciation, why the Globe burned down and the difference between a Folio and a Quarto.

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