Adrian Poole is Professor of English Literature at the University of Cambridge, UK and a Fellow of Trinity College, UK.
His books include Tragedy: A very short introduction (OUP) and Shakespeare and the Victorians (Arden).

Great Shakespeareans offers a systematic account of those figures who have had the greatest influence on the interpretation, understanding and cultural reception of Shakespeare, both nationally and internationally.
In this volume, leading scholars assess the contribution of Sir Walter Scott, Charles Dickens, George Eliot and Thomas Hardy to the afterlife and reception of Shakespeare and his plays. Each substantial contribution assesses the double impact of Shakespeare on the figure covered and of the figure on the understanding, interpretation and appreciation of Shakespeare, provide a sketch of their subject's intellectual and professional biography and an account of the wider cultural context, including comparison with other figures or works within the same field.

Series Preface \ Introduction \ 1. Scott Nicola Watson \ 2. Dickens Adrian Poole and Rebekah Scott \ 3. Eliot John Rignall \ 4. Thomas Hardy Peter Holbrook \ Index