William Shakespeare is the world’s best-loved playwright. His work is performed all over the globe and his life still tantalises us with its mysteries. The man who created classics such as Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth lived in the most turbulent yet thrilling era of English history. Shakespeare witnessed the flowering of English Renaissance drama and the construction of iconic playhouses such as The Globe. He also lived through the type of political and religious tensions which could see traitors executed on another type of public stage – the hangman’s scaffold. William Shakespeare in 100 Facts guides us through the lesser-known stories surrounding the ‘Sweet Swan of Avon’. Zoe Bramley invites us to re-examine what we know about Shakespeare, uncovering details from his lifetime and legacy and organising them into easy-to-read, bitesize facts. Be prepared to have myths busted and quirky facts revealed, from the name of his first patron’s cat to how they say ‘to be or not to be’ in Klingon.