So, thanks to all at once and to each one
Macbeth, Act 5, Scene 8
First of all thanks to Jim Martin, Anna MacDiarmid and everyone at Bloomsbury for another opportunity to write about something I love and for all their support throughout. Thanks also to Catherine Best for her brilliant editorial skills. Ele Willoughby also deserves a huge amount of praise for her superb chapter illustrations.
I wrote this book out of an enthusiasm for Shakespeare and the gorier side of science. My background in chemistry meant the research into scientific aspects were much less daunting than the literary and theatrical side of things. Matt Pinches of the Guildford Shakespeare Company and Katherine Mendelsohn have been brilliant in helping me understand more about how Shakespeare is performed – thank you.
On the science side of things, Margaret Skinner and Caroline Barrett helped me out of a difficult spot regarding animal blood. Alice Gregory supplied some great insights into sleep, or the effects of a lack of it. Isabelle Sheridan has been fantastic at answering my questions about anatomical and medical details. Bill Backhouse and Justin Brower need a special mention for helping track down sources and resources for me.
Thanks to David and Sharon Harkup, Beatriz Gonzáles, Matt May, Helen and Andrew Skinner, Richard Stutely, Mark Whiting and all in the Valencia Writing Group, particularly Dónal Mac Erlaine, and most of all to my parents, for reading and commenting on the book as it progressed. The result has been much improved by their feedback. Though many people have helped spot and correct my mistakes nothing is perfect. Any remaining errors are mine and mine alone.
Obviously this book owes everything to William Shakespeare and his splendid work. ‘And how quote you my folly?’ Most quotes, along with a lot of additional information, have been taken from the excellent Open Source Shakespeare website (www.opensourceshakespeare.org). All quotes from The Two Noble Kinsmen have come from the RSC edition of the Complete Works of William Shakespeare. And finally, quotes from Edward III were found in John Julius Norwich’s Shakespeare’s Kings.