Duxbury was founded by migrants from the town of Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1632. Justin Winsor's venerable history of Duxbury commences with chapters on the settlement and incorporation of the town; boundaries, roads and landmarks; first settlers; schools and education; and early contact with the Indian population. Subsequent chapters are concerned with lists of 17th-century town officers, Duxbury in the colonial wars, the American Revolution and the War of 1812, and the history of the Congregational Church in Duxbury. Of greatest interest to researchers, over one-third of the volume is devoted to genealogical notes and sketches of more than 200 early families of Duxbury.

This volume is a comprehensive collection of critical essays on The Taming of the Shrew, and includes extensive discussions of the play's various printed versions and its theatrical productions. Aspinall has included only those essays that offer the most influential and controversial arguments surrounding the play. The issues discussed include gender, authority, female autonomy and unruliness, courtship and marriage, language and speech, and performance and theatricality.