This definitive edition of William Shakespeare's complete works has been prepared in collaboration with the Royal Shakespeare Company. It presents all of Shakespeare's plays, poems, and sonnets in texts that aim to reflect their original performable form. Each work is introduced with scholarly essays by Jonathan Bate, offering historical context, textual history, and guidance for modern readers and performers. Edited by Eric Rasmussen, this edition combines rigorous scholarship with accessibility, providing illustrations, portraits, and annotations to illuminate the world of Shakespeare?s theatre. Ideal for students, actors, and general readers, it celebrates Shakespeare as both a literary genius and a living dramatist.