Shakespeare and War' was the topic of the 2018 International Shakespeare Conference held in Stratford-upon-Avon. A selection of papers is included in this 72nd volume of Shakespeare Survey, which features a notable change, as Emma Smith takes over from Peter Holland, who had been in charge of the yearbook's editorship since 1999.

Founded in 1948, Shakespeare Survey has published a number of intriguing and thought-provoking articles which have now become classics of Shakespeare criticism. The last issue, which resolutely follows a presentist trend, is absolutely up to standard and particularly rich: it comprises forty black-and-white illustrations, no less than eleven articles on the main theme, and other papers on a variety of topics written by such renowned scholars as Gabriel Egan or Lisa Hopkins. The book's closing section, which is devoted to reviews proves, as usual, remarkably helpful for Shakespeare scholars.