A universal master whose achievement is timeless, Shakespeare is nevertheless inseparable from his age
- the brilliant pageant
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Bill Bryson’s Shakespeare is the travel writer’s biography of England’s most renowned dramatist & poet
- William Shakespeare. Bringing
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From the common playgoers to the royal patrons, this book explores Britain from the perspective of Shakespeare`s audience revealing how the significant issues of the day were explored at the playhouse through objects "ations from Shakespeare`s plays. ...

Picturesque map of Great Britain from the National Geographic Society designed to show the country in a style of antique maps, highlighting locations of Shakespeare’s plays with British settings, plus a panorama view of London, etc. The map is based on John Speed`s ” The Kingdome of Great Britaine & Irel&, ” from his 1611 atlas ” Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine” &

Includes:: a panorama view of Shakespeare’s London with The Globe theatre in the foreground & looking over the Thames towards St. Paul’s & the Tower, plus a small street plan of present day Stratford-upon-Avon highlighting locations of sights related to Shakespeare. Also included is a table that shows ” Shakespeare`s Plays with British Settings, ” which lists the period of action in each play & the reign of the kings.

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From The Two Gentlemen of Verona in the early 1590s to The Two Noble Kinsmen at the end of his career around 1614, Shakespeare wrote at least eighteen plays that can be called `comedies`: a far higher number than that for any other genre in which he wrote. In this Very Short Introduction, Bart Van Es explores the full range of the playwright`s comic writing, from the neat classical plotting of early works like The Comedy of Errors to the corrupt world of the so-called problem plays, written in the middle years of Shakespeare`s life. Examining Shakespeare`s influences & sources, Van Es compares his plays to those of his rivals, & looks at the history of the plays in performance, from the biographies of Shakespeare`s original actors to the plays` endless reinvention in modern stage productions & in films. Identifying the key qualities that make Shakespearean comedy distinctive, Van Es traces the changing nature of Shakespeare`s comic writing over the course of a career that spanned nearly a quarter century of theatrical change. ...

In a sparkling, fast-paced narrative, Shakespeare`s Kings chronicles the turbulent events that inspired Shakespeare`s history plays, from Edward III to Richard III. In a time of uncertainty & incessant warfare
- when the crown was constantly contested, alliances were made & broken, & the people rose up in revolt
- this was the raw material that inspired Shakespeare`s dramas. But what really happened between 1337 & 1485? Where did history stop & drama begin? John Julius Norwich establishes just how real Shakespeare`s characters & events are & what liberties he took with the facts to entertain his audience. Shakespeare`s Kings is an illuminating companion to history & to the richness of Shakespeare`s imagination, with a body of work which still shapes our view of the past today.

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Welcome to the George Inn near London Bridge; a cosy, wood-pannelled, galleried coaching house a few minutes` walk from the Thames. Grab yourself a pint, listen to the chatter of the locals & lean back, resting your head against the wall. & then consider this: who else has rested their head against that wall, over the last 600 years? Chaucer & his fellow pilgrims almost certainly drank in the George on their way out of London to Canterbury. It`s fair to say that Shakespeare will have popped in from the nearby Globe for a pint, & we know that Dickens certainly did. Mail carriers changed their horses here, before heading to all four corners of Britain -- while sailors drank here before visiting all four corners of the world... The pub, as Pete Brown points out, is the `primordial cell of British life` & in the George he has found the perfect case study. All life is here, from murderers, highwaymen & ladies of the night to gossiping pedlars & hard-working clerks. So sit back & watch as buildings rise & fall over the centuries, & `the beer drinker`s Bill Bryson` (TLS) takes us on an entertaining tour through six centuries of history, through the stories of everyone that ever drank in one pub. ...

Everyday life in the teeming metropolis during William Shakespeare`s time in the city (c.1580-1616), the height of Queen Elizabeth I`s reign. Shakespeare`s London was a bustling, teeming metropolis that was growing so rapidly that the government took repeated, & ineffectual, steps to curb its expansion. From contemporary letters, journals & diaries, a vivid picture emerges of this fascinating city, with its many opportunities & also its persistent problems. By far the largest city in the country, it was the centre of government, the law & the church, the focus of politics & culture. It had a vigorous economy, with a range of industries & a lucrative trade in luxury goods for the courtiers & wealthy citizens. Growth produced overcrowding & high mortality, with shockingly high death tolls during the periodic plague epidemics, yet London attracted an endless stream of people, who were absorbed into its diverse communities & economic structures. Here the first playhouses were built, patronised by large audiences, who were treated to a rich & varied diet of plays to keep them, & the court, entertained. The London that Shakespeare knew was an expanding, changing & exciting city. ...

This entertaining & fact-packed guide provides all the information you`ll need to travel back in time to Elizabethan London a booming city of courtiers, cutthroats, merchants, beggars, lawyers, dramatists, apprentices & adventurers. It helps you: find out the best way to the capital & where to stay; saunter over London Bridge, with its hundreds of shops & houses; glimpse Her Majesty at Whitehall, Europe`s largest palace; watch the finest plays & players at the Rose Theatre, & marvel at the bustle of business in the Royal Exchange; &, go down to Greenwich to stand on the deck of the Golden Hind, the ship that Sir Francis Drake sailed around the world. This intriguingly addictive guide provides all you need to know to sight see, shop & meet the famous in the capital of a nation stirring to greatness. ...

The Elizabethan age was a tumultuous time, when long-cherished certainties were crumbling & life was exhilaratingly uncertain. Shakespeare`s Restless World uncovers the extraordinary stories behind twenty objects from the period to re-create an age at once distant & yet surprisingly familiar. From knife crime to belief in witches, religious battles to the horizons of the New World, Neil Mac Gregor brings the past to life in a fresh, unexpected portrait of a dangerous & dynamic era. ...