"A John Macrae book."

Includes bibliographical references (p. [453]-460) and index.

Stratford 1564: birth of a genius -- William Shakespeare's schooldays: c.1570-c.1578 -- Meeting the neighbors in 1582 --
Enter wife and daughter: 1582-83 -- Poaching from the Lucys: 1587? -- Bound for London: 1587 -- Early days in Shoreditch: 1587-90 -- Likely lads: Kit Marlowe and Will Shakespeare -- Living the sonnets: 1590- -- The rival poet: 1592-93 -- A twenty-first birthday poem: October 6, 1594 -- Taming the dark lady: 1594- --A Will "made lame by fortune's blows" -- The Catholics and Oldcastle: 1594-96 -- From Blackfriars to Bankside: 1596-99 -- "Alack, my child is dead": Wednesday, August 11, 1596 -- Merry wives and new places: 1597 --
Flight from the fortress -- The moneylender of London: October 25, 1598 -- A Stratford Alexander in Henry V at the Globe: 1599 -- Picturing a poet and a Pantomime Rebellion: 1600-1601 -- Daughters and sons and lovers: 1601-1602 --
Affairs of the body and heart: 1602-1604 -- "My father's godson": 1605-1606 -- The Easter rising of 1606: a little local difficulty -- A wedding and a funeral: 1607 -- Losing a mother and a daughter: 1609-1611 -- "Do not go gentle into that good night": 1612-15 -- Shakespeare dies: 1616 -- Life after death: 1623- -- Main characters -- Appendix: Two Stratford maps.

Presents an intimate view of the interior world of William Shakespeare, drawing parallels between the bard's life and his works that reflect his early experiences in Stratford, contacts with underground Catholics, and role in theatrical London.