The Short And The Long Of It is a compilation of a series of stories about a Tudor street urchin called Brat. After a chance meeting with the famous playwright, William Shakespeare on London Bridge, who is in the depths of despair at the loss of his son, Hamnet, the two embark on a path together. Brat finds himself becoming a cross between a servant, an apprentice and a replacement for the son William has so recently and tragically lost.

Tudor London life is seen through the eyes of Brat, who, having lived most of his life on the streets of the city, has no expectations but a constant fascination for everything going on around him.

While on an errand for his new master, Brat meets and speaks with Queen Elizabeth I, after falling out of the branches of a mulberry tree and landing at her feet. The Queen rewards her "little bird" with a shiny shilling "to feather his nest". Brat rescues a dog from certain death at an organized dog fight. He and the dog become the closest of companions and he shows signs of becoming the first true animal-rights supporter. Brat visits Greenwich Palace where they perform a play for the Queen, in which Brat and Cobweb become inadvertently involved.

Winter Guests tells of a surprise visit to London from William Shakespeare's wife and daughters and sees them explore the capital together, even walking on the frozen waters of the Thames during a winter fair. Brat starts to learn to read and write, then through his quick thinking averts a disastrous fire at Shakespeare's lodgings. During the visit, Judith and Brat help to catch a gang of pickpockets. While walking in the country outside the city, Judith, realizes her dream of meeting her monarch! On a rainy afternoon Judith helps her father with a speech for his new play, The Merchant of Venice, in which Portia is holding forth in court. Shakespeare can't find the words, but Judith does, simply by looking out of the window and describing what she sees!

The Crossing, deals with the dismantling of the Theatre in Shoreditch and its rebuilding as the great Globe Theatre across the river in Southwark. Brat is put in the stocks for setting free some fighting cockerels from captivity. The Theatre in Shoreditch becomes threatened. Shakespeare and his friends plan to save the timbers and transport them across the Thames to begin a new life as the Globe Theatre. When the new theatre is in the middle of its first performance, Queen Elizabeth and her friend, Bess of Hardwick, make a surprise visit backstage - they don't want to cause a fuss by their presence - but insist on going on stage together with their hoods down as a pair of servants, thus making them the first women to set foot as actors upon the stage! (How can Shakespeare refuse?). Momentous enough, it was also Brat's first chance to act on stage!

In On The Road, London is gripped by plague and Shakespeare, Brat and his friend, Thomas Thatcher, head north to Stratford-Upon-Avon - where Thomas falls secretly in love with Shakespeare's daughter, Judith! Shakespeare, unaware, helps to coach him in wooing her! On their way north, on the forest path, they are accosted by highway robbers who they manage to repel! They enjoy time in Stratford-Upon-Avon and visit Warwick, where the Queen is in residence, giving them the opportunity to see a joust and for a royal performance to be given of one of Shakespeare's plays. There is also a poignant final meeting between Queen Elizabeth and Brat.

In the stories I have highlighted all quotes occurring in the dialogue between characters that appear in Shakespeare's plays and sonnets, and have created a glossary at the end of each story, indicating which Shakespearean character spoke the words and in which play, act and scene they can be found.

Brat is an engaging personality with a social conscience - he thinks women should act their own parts on stage and that animal rights should be taken far more seriously!