A major literature reference work, comprising eighteen volumes published in four parts. The complete set offers a comprehensive analysis of the contribution made by the most important Shakespearean critics, editors, actors and directors from the seventeenth to twentieth centuries. Each volume covers two to four figures and includes a critical introduction and index. Each study within these volumes includes: an intellectual/professional biography; critical analysis of the figure's impact, reception and influence; discussion of the wider intellectual, cultural, historical context , and a bibliography including references to electronic resources. Great Shakespeareans is an essential reference resource for students and academics in Shakespeare studies.