To Die or Not to Die?: An A-Z of Death in Shakespeare

In the footsteps of Doomed to Die: An A-Z of Deaths in Tolkien, and inspired by the works of Edmund Gorey, this insightful parody breathes life into Shakespeare with an illustrated ABC of the Bard's more gruesome deaths.

‘Woe, destruction, ruin, and decay; The worst is death, and death will have his day.’ RICHARD II

Universally regarded as the greatest writer in the English language, William Shakespeare was nevertheless responsible for more violent murders than any other playwright. Bringing true crime drama to Elizabethan audiences, death had dominion not only in Shakespeare’s histories and tragedies, but in his comedies too.

From Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet to King Lear and the Scottish play, Shakespeare killed his characters both on and off stage in bloody tales of treachery, murder, combat and retribution. Now To Die or Not To Die brings his plays to life by revealing the very best of these deaths.

Tom Racine’s unexpected journey from illustrator to published author began with Doomed to Die, an affectionate parody à la Edward Gorey of the dark side of J.R.R. Tolkien. A life-long admirer of the Bard, it was perhaps inevitable that Tom’s next collection would confirm him as a man of infinite jest…