William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, in 1564. The date of his birth is unknown but is celebrated on 23 April, which happens to be St George's Day, and the day in 1616 on which Shakespeare died.

Aged eighteen, he married Anne Hathaway. They had three children. Around 1585 William joined an acting troupe on tour in Stratford from London, and thereafter spent much of his life in the capital. By 1595 he had written five of his history plays, six comedies and his first tragedy, Romeo and Juliet. In all, he wrote thirty-seven plays and much poetry, and earned enormous fame in his own lifetime in prelude to his immortality.

Thomas Moore is the author of the New York Times bestselling Care of the Soul and 19 other books on cultivating a deeper, soulful life. He was a monk for 12 years, a musician, a university professor and a psychotherapist. Today, he lectures widely on holistic medicine, spirituality, psychotherapy and the arts.

Oprah Winfrey referred to him as one of the top elders of the spirituality movement in our time. He has been awarded numerous honours, including the Humanitarian Award from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University.

Three of his books (The Re-Enchantment of Everyday Life, Dark Nights of the Soul and Writing in the Sand) have won the prestigious Books for a Better Life award. He is a patron of Re-Vision, a London centre of spirituality and counselling, and is on the board of Turning Point, a bereavement counsellors training programme in Dublin, Ireland. He writes regular columns for Resurgence, Spirituality & Health and The Huffington Post.