'Part travel book, part history of Swahili-speaking African nations, part exploration of Shakespeare's power to touch the human spirit, this is a remarkable account of how his work is woven into the fabric of African life' Daily Mail 'Amid the dozens of books flooding this anniversary season this ... is one of the more interesting ... Wilson-Lee's account of his East African Shakespeare-hunt is vivid and full of insights' Independent 'It has successfully told a lesser-known story of Africa, and it is a story worth knowing' Economist 'Part memoir, part weird and wonderful history of Shakespeare in East Africa' Telegraph 'A perceptive and entertaining guide to the Bard's reception in Swahililand' Literary Review 'I thought nothing could surprise me about the impact of England's greatest cultural figure, but this fascinating, readable book about his influence in East Africa certainly did' The Lady 'Wilson-Lee goes in search of Shakespeare in Africa and finds him entwined in every twist and turn of the drama of colonization and decolonization of the continent from the 17th century to the present. The result is a masterly literary detective adventure' Ngugi wa Thiong'o

Edward Wilson-Lee was raised in Kenya, as part of a family of wildlife conservationists and filmmakers, and now teaches Shakespeare at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge. He has written and lectured widely on subjects from the Bible to Don Quixote and is an expert on the early years of the printing press, chivalric romance and the novel. This is his first book.