Kirsten E. Shepherd-Barr is Professor of English and Theatre Studies at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of St Catherine's College. She is the author of Theatre and Evolution from Ibsen to Beckett (Columbia University Press, 2015), Science on Stage: From Doctor Faustus to Copenhagen (Princeton University Press, 2006), and Ibsen and Early Modernist Theatre, 1890-1900 (Greenwood Press, 1997) as well as numerous articles on modern drama.

Shepherd-Barr manages to survey over a hundred years of Western drama in this pocket-sized book ... Providing a cursory, but considered, overview that introduces the reader to the richness and diversity of the topic in an engaging and readily comprehensible manner. That is no mean feat. (Adrian Curtin, Studies in Theatre and Performance)

an excellent and insightful short introduction to modern drama (Adrian Curtin, Studies in Theatre and Performance)

Modern Drama: A Very Short Introduction, is something of a marvel. A clear case is made for each of the eras of modern drama while also demonstrating the lasting influence of directors, playwrights, and styles. (Lee Jacobus, Emeritus Prof. of English, UConn, Storrs)