Macbeth is one of a series of introductions to Shakespeare’s key plays.

It is perfect as an introduction before studying the play, for revision purposes and for reluctant and struggling readers. The play is retold as a straightforward, pacey narrative in chapter-book format. The book use the present tense and lots of dialogue (in present-day English) to recreate the experience of actually watching the play.

The text follow the original play faithfully so students can acquire an accurate understanding of the action and plot. Memorable quotations from the original text (in italics) make this book perfect for exam crammers! Plus each book includes visual information to help pupils get to grips with the plot, the key characters and their important relationships in the play. The stories are all presented in the period of the play but with modern day language.

Written by award winning writers Barbara Catchpole and Stephen Rickard, these are really accessible books. They are perfect for getting all pupils, whatever their ability, comfortable with each play before they go on to study it in its original form and a great all round introduction to Shakespeare.

Staying impressively faithful to the plot and structure of the original text, the narrative voice is fresh, modern and colloquial; yet still includes key quotations (highlighted in italics), as well as clear analysis of themes, character, and rhetorical devices. Most of all, though, this is a book that absolutely captures the excitement, intrigue and sheer visceral power of Shakespeare’s tragedy as performed live on stage, which is an impressive feat by anyone’s standards. Not only will it prepare teens for GCSE study. it will ensure they start out by realising that Macbeth is, above all, one hell of a story.
Teach Secondary