Description: Is Shakespeare English, British, neither or both? Addressing from various angles the relation of the national poet/playwright to constructions of England and Englishness, this collection of essays explores the interplay of nation and imagination, first through new readings of particular plays, then through analyses of a range of subsequent appropriations and reorientations of 'Shakespeare' and 'this England' that the plays - in part - produced.
Review Quotes: 'a valuable and stimulating set of contributions which will be a welcome addition to the current stable of "national" Shakespeare work ...' Lisa Hopkins, Sheffield Hallam University, UK and author of Shakespeare on the Edge 'Concentrating mainly but not exclusively on history plays and on various later cultural uses of the figure of Shakespeare, the essays complement each other nicely, and collectively offer a valuable and stimulating set of contributions which is a welcome addition to the current stable of 'national' Shakespeare work, while at the same time making it clear that there is room for much more work in this area. ... The essays work well collectively as well as individually to make the volume a satisfying whole rather than merely the sum of its parts...' Review of English Studies