This book takes two sources of information, biographical documentation and the writings of William Shakespeare, and proposes theories about the relationship between the two, asking the question what in Shakespeare's life caused him to write what he did in the way he did. It takes a roughly chronological approach, chronicling events in the playwright's childhood through to his death a little more than fifty years later. The book's core thematic exploration relates to the question of what goes into the making of art, not just Shakespeare's plays and poems, but art in general.

Following an introduction, in which the author defines his central question (how did Shakespeare's life inform his art) and the reasons why that question is so intriguing (see "Quotes, pp.12 and 13), the book proper begins with an examination of the circumstances of Shakespeare's childhood. The author explores, in some detail, the rural community...