Thank you Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Death by Shakespeare was definitely not what I'd expected. I had expected to read another book that simply looked at the relevant plays (in this case all of Shakespeare's works) and analyse them into excruciating detail.

What I quickly figured out when I started this book was that I had managed to find an absolute gem: a very well rounded and perfectly executed explanation and depiction of death in all its forms in Shakespeare's works (and there are many) AND a history lesson with several accounts of real life deaths that occurred at the time and including a relation to how a particular death would be perceived or seen in the 21st century. And if that wasn't enough, the author then goes to explain certain deaths and especially sicknesses in a way that I - a medical simpleton - feel like I now understand some of the procedures of some forms of death and how medicine worked at the time.

This was an absolutely wonderfully rounded book and there is not a single thing that left me with questions or wanting more. I may even go as far as to say that this might be my absolutely favourite secondary literature book that I have ever read (and I am an English major - I've read a lot), and even though I had to put it aside sometimes to put my mind off death and decay, it was an incredibly interesting read. Easy to follow and so well written.