I knew this book would be HUGE because I've seen other students carrying it around and I always told myself, "I would take Shakespeare just PLEASE not THAT book." and La di da, it's this book. It's humongous and I describe it as, "Dictionary Size book and Dictionary thin pages." It's heavy and it's one the greatest books of Shakespeare I will ever own.

It has every single Shakespeare play, sonnet, poem, and etc. of what he wrote. It gives you the play and has some decoding words at the bottom of each column which explains how a certain word is used or what the word means or the story behind the words. I love it and recommend it to any and all Shakespeare fans and readers.

Opportunity may present itself suddenly over the course of a lifetime. My opportunity came in 2002, returning to University studies as a senior. Over the course of two years I was able to take courses in the Humanities that I had always wanted.
One of the romances I had developed was a love of Shakespeare. There are many editions out there of course. I had the traditional standard store bought edition produced by Doubleday with the illustrations by Rockwell Kent.
The requirements of a course in Shakespeare necessitated that I purchase "The Riverside Shakespeare" and I agreee with everyone else who has made a statement here that it is far superior to others.The background notes, the Black and White plates, even the Introduction is very interesting and a joy to read. The reference notes are very useful and it is a perfect course presentation edition that translates well to reading Shakespeare for the general reader. Well recommended.

This edition of the Complete Works of Shakespeare is excellent. I bought it as a textbook, but if I were looking for a complete works right now, I would buy it simply for its excellence.

Not only does it contain all of Shakespeare's works, but it has extensive notes on the text as well.

A comprehensive and complete collection of Shakespeare's works. It also has very well written introductions about the plays and sonnets.

This book is all you'll ever need for Shakespeare. It contains great introductions and excellent footnotes for each play.