Professor Coghill brought thirty years' experience of directing the plays to this study of Shakespeare's creative imagination and the ways his sense of the needs of dramatic presentation directed his skill as a writer. He shows that Shakespeare had an understanding of his art and an ability to use and extend all the resources of the playwright unmatched by any of his contemporaries. Professor Coghill's approach is analytical. He discusses the problem of telling a story on the stage and examines the point of specific scenes or speeches. In particular he analyses Shakespeare's use of the soliloquy and his skill in juxtaposing particular scenes for effect. This fresh approach to Shakespeare as a dramatist, rather than as a poet, will be of interest to Shakespearean scholars and playgoers.