Macbeth (Cambridge School Shakespeare)

Exactly what was needed for GCSE English. Arrived quickly. Recommend.

This Macbeth GCSE study guide is an absolute lifesaver. Before this, I was pretty sure “Macbeth” was just a long list of people making terrible decisions in the dark. Thanks to this guide, I finally understand who’s plotting, who’s hallucinating, and who really should’ve just taken a nap instead of committing treason. It breaks everything down clearly, explains the themes without making my brain melt, and even makes the quotes stick (I now mutter “fair is foul” like it’s a personal motto). If you want to survive GCSE English without feeling like you’re losing your sanity like certain characters, this guide is the real MVP. Highly recommend!

Lots of space to do annotations and used it for GCSEs!

This book has the play's text and the commentaries on opposing pages. At first, this looks pragmatic. And to some extent it is. The Shakespeare text is Shakespeare, not much to say there. The extra information available on opposite sides is quite useful when children are preparing for school, and in this case for GCSE. This book was recommended by the teacher, but I do feel that this structure and the type of commentary provided takes a little bit away from the actual Shakespeare experience. To me, as an adult, the setup feels a bit distracting. I feel that all the colours and coloured boxes are not really necessary, and it's not wrong to let children study and learn. Don't get me wrong, I have no issue with the quality of the commentary, but with its presentation, as I find it difficult to rest my eyes on the page and let them read. They constantly jump around. For me the didactic approach of the book is wrong.

Good quality of the book.

Good quality

For a preowned book it was well presented, arrived on time.

Great product with lots of useful general comments, especially for people aiming for those higher grades. I mainly got this because my teacher recommended it and the content is quite good. Sadly, however, the paper is the same quality as in a magazine so when highlighting and writing in biro, it smudges very easily. If you’re going to annotate, id recommend buying a different book. The paper does not absorb the ink as well as standard non-magazine paper.