Reading Room - Shakespeare in the Theatre from 1660 to the Present

Michael Dobson, The Making of the National Poet (1992) – excellent on the political context of Restoration and eighteenth-century adaptations

Dennis Kennedy, Looking at Shakespeare: A Visual History of Twentieth Century Performance (2 nd edn, 2001) – international in reach and superbly illustrated

Shakespeare: An Illustrated Stage History , edited by Jonathan Bate and Russell Jackson (1996, paperback retitled The Oxford Illustrated History of Shakespeare on Stage, 2001) – authoritative collection of essays

Shakespeare in the Theatre: An Anthology of Criticism , edited by Stanley Wells (1997) – reviews and comments down the ages

J. L. Styan, The Shakespeare Revolution: Criticism and Performance in the Twentieth Century (1977) – good on changing production styles and the return of a 'thrust' as opposed to proscenium arch stage

There are hundreds more fine books on Shakespeare, but anyone who reads The RSC Shakespeare: Complete Works from cover to cover and then devours a reasonable proportion of the above will have earned the right to consider themselves an exceptionally highly informed Shakespearean.