Literature and Culture Handbooks are an innovative series of guides to major periods, topics and authors in British and American literature and culture. Designed to provide a comprehensive, one-stop resource for literature students, each handbook provides the essential information and guidance needed from the beginning of a course through to developing more advanced knowledge and skills. Written in clear language by leading academics, they provide an indispensable introduction to key topics, including:
. Introduction to authors, texts, historical and cultural contexts
. Guides to key critics, concepts and topics
. An overview of major critical approaches, changes in the canon and directions of current and future research
. Case studies in reading literary and critical texts
. Annotated bibliography (including websites), timeline, glossary of critical terms.
The Shakespeare Handbook is an accessible and comprehensive introduction to Shakespeare and early modern literature.

General Editor's Introduction
PART 1: SHAKESPEARE'S TIME
1. Introduction - Andrew Hiscock and Stephen Longstaffe
2. A Shakespearean Timeline - Peter Sillitoe (University of Sheffield)
3. Shakespeare's Historical Context - William E. Engel(University of the South)
4. Shakespeare's Literary and Cultural Contexts - Stephen Longstaffe (St. Martin's College)
PART II: HOW TO READ SHAKESPEARE
5. Case Studies in Reading I: Reading the Texts - Kirk Melnikoff (UNC Charlotte)
6. Case Studies in Reading II: From texts to Theory - Mark Robson (University of Nottingham)
7. Shakespeare in the theatre and on film - Stuart Hampton-Reeves (University of Central Lancashire)
8. Key Critical Concepts and Topics - Adrian Streete (Queen's University Belfast)
PART III: SHAKESPEARE STUDIES NOW
9. Recent Critical Responses and Approaches, Lisa Hopkins (Sheffield Hallam University)
10. New Contexts for Shakespeare, Gabriel Egan (Loughborough University)
11. Recent Issues in Shakespearean Studies: From Margins to Centre, Willy Maley (Glasgow University)
12. Mapping the Current Critical Landscape, Ros King (University of Southampton)
Annotated Bibliography, Robert Evans (Auburn University Montgomery)
Glossary of Critical and Theoretical Terminology, Peter Sillitoe (University of Sheffield)
Appendix: Shakespeare: Teaching, Curriculum and Learning, David Webb (St. Martin's College, Lancaster)
Notes on Contributors
Index