Shakespeare is the archetypal literary magus, wise and prolific, his imagined realm extending vastly to encompass history, love, emotions, all the vices and virtues, town life in pubs and courts, the countryside, sea voyages, battles, supernatural beings such as fairies and witches - and much else besides. The human heart was his workshop. Shakespeare's legacy represents more than the story of a life and its age: it has dominated artistic and cultural endeavor in every generation that has followed him. This book offers a dazzling kaleidoscope of Shakespeare's inner and outer worlds - a brilliant set of imagined answers to gently probing questions, on such topics as his schooldays, his experiences of the theatre, his life in Stratford and London, his sonnets, his rivalry with other playwrights such as Christopher Marlowe and Ben Jonson, his love life, his sources of inspiration, and his attitudes to money and publication.