"Shakespeare was for all time because he was for his own age, with an intensity blazing so fiercely that it illuminates the far future. He remains real because he spoke so truthfully of, from and for his own experience, in his own person. That touch of nature suffuses his work throughout its various aspects and genres, whether comedy, history or tragedy, poetry or prose. He writes always of the here and now, never of the there and then."

(The Real Shakespeare II, p. 59)

The present web-site would have never been possible without the help and support of Richard Abram, Andrew Lamb, Richard Sams and Audrey Twine. 

I'm much obliged to Jeremy and Richard Sams for permission to reprint their father's writings. My grateful thanks to Peter Phillips and The Musical Times. 

All essays and reviews are © The Estate of Eric Sams unless otherwise stated, and cannot be reproduced without prior written permission. (EB)