Macbeth

This is part of a new collection of the Bard’s greatest plays, digested to a few thousand words with invaluable side notes from John Sutherland. Funny and incredibly clever, these parodies are a joy for those who know their Shakespeare, perfect for the theatregoer needing a quick recap, and a massive relief for those just desperate to pass their English exam.

John Crace is the Guardian’s parliamentary sketch writer and author of the ’DigestedRead’ columns. He is the author of I Never Promised you a Rose Garden: A short guide to modern politics, the coalition and the general election and also Baby Alarm: A Neurotic’s Guide to Fatherhood, Vertigo: One Football Fan’s Fear of Success, Harry’s Games: Inside the Mind of Harry Redknapp, Brideshead Abbreviated: the Digested Read of the Twentieth Century and The Digested Twenty-first Century. He lives in London.

John Sutherland is Lord Northcliffe Professor Emeritus of Modern English Literature at University College London and currently teaches at the California Institute of Technology. He writes regularly for the Guardian and is the author of many books including The Longman Companion to Victorian Fiction, biographies of Scott and Spender, and The Boy Who Loved Books, a memoir.