This is not a new range of programs, it has been available on the Spectrum and BBC for some time. Now Penguin have made their six Shakespeare study aids available for the CBM 64. They are: Twelfth Night, Romeo And Juliet, Macbeth, Henry IV Part 1, Julius Caesar and The Merchant Of Venice. Many people justify their purchase of a home computer partly on educational grounds, so the market is there.

Don't expect to load up the program, sit back, and be transformed from an 'O' Level/CSE fail to a pass. These are study aids, not magic knowledge pills.

What you get after a fast Nova load, is essentially a database of comments, pieces of insight and thought-provoking questions referenced by character, theme and act. You specify a reference, such as in Twelfth Night, "Malvolio, Sir Toby, Act 2", and it will tell you how many relevant comments it has and list them with act, scene and line number.

There is nothing here that couldn't be put in a notebook, it is the convenience that you pay for. Anything that makes work easier and more interesting can't be bad.

B.J.