Shakespeare's life was as colorful, varied, and dramatic as his works: Taken out of school early, the teenage Shakespeare was sent under an alias to train illegally as a Catholic priest. After a shotgun wedding, an escape to Elizabeth I's London, and a stint as a mediocre actor, he was by the turn of the seventeenth century writing the plays that would make him immortal. When he retired, four years before his death from drink, his was the ultimate rags-to-riches story.

I. Stratford: 1564-1569 -- II. Childhood: 1569-1579 -- III. The Lost' Years: 1579-1587 -- IV. London: 1587-1592 -- V. The pstart Crow': 1592-1594 -- VI. The Lord Chamberlain's Man: 1594-1596 -- VII. My Absent Child': 1596-1599 -- VIII. The Globe: 1599-1603 -- IX. The King's Man: 1603-1606 -- X. The ntique Roman': 1606-1608 -- XI. Blackfriars: 1608-1611 -- XII. Merry Meeting': 1611-1616 -- Appendix A. Chronology of Shakespeare's Works -- Appendix B. The Shakespeare Family Tree.