“This book is an abridgment of William Shakespeare: A Study of Facts and Problems, by Sir Edmund Chambers, published in 1930 in two volumes. It has been made for the convenience of those who cannot possess and perhaps do not find it easy to consult the major work, but have nevertheless a vivid interest in all that can be known of Shakespeare. The antagonistic, economic, and cultural circumstances of our time tend to increase the number of such readers. Being one of them, I have wanted to make for them the kind of book that I should myself desire. I have therefore retained as much as possible concerning Shakespeare’s life, even at the cost of omitting important critical and bibliographical matter.” From the preface.