A host of biographers have sharpened their quills to connect the dots of Shakespeare's life, and to this rank Holden, a journalist for London's Times and Observer and author of tributes to the royal family, can now be added. With a story full of the characters of the age, Holden crafts a lively and interesting Shakespeare anchored to his times. He brings a sense of immediacy to the best of his chapters and sometimes almost transports one to the Bard's time. Perhaps this is enough for a popular biography--and a popular biography is what Holden set out to write. However, it becomes apparent that Holden is not a Shakespearean critic. While drawing upon the bard's work to explicate his life might work when contemporary events are tied to the play, it is less successful when used to explain events in Shakespeare's childhood and early life. Nonetheless, this is recommended as a popular biography. If your collection needs an outstanding biography of more heft, then stick with Samuel Schoenbaum's William Shakespeare: A Compact Documentary Life.