England's greatest export.(Shakespeare Goes to Paris: How the Bard Conquered France)(Book Review)

SHAKESPEARE GOES TO PARIS: How THE BARD CONQUERED FRANCE by John Pemble Hambleden & London, 19.99 [pounds sterling], pp. 240, ISBN 1852854529

Shakespeare was the great glory of England. So wrote Victor Hugo. But he added that if you went to England to admire the statue of Shakespeare you would find instead the statue of Wellington. The English did not like Shakespeare. His fame came to England from overseas. And Hugo believed that the French played their part in making the English conscious of his greatness.

There is a generation of English people to whom this will appeal. Those who went to France after the Liberation found themselves taking part in discussions about Shakespeare such as they never knew in England. Central was Jean-Louis …