num_pages: 429
description: An intimate history of Shakespeare, following him through a single year that changed not only his fortunes but the course of literature.How did Shakespeare go from being a talented poet and playwright to become one of the greatest writers who ever lived? In this one exhilarating year we follow what he reads and writes, what he saw and who he worked with as he invests in the new Globe theatre and creates four of his most famous plays - Henry the Fifth , Julius Caesar , As You Like It , and, most remarkably, Hamlet .James Shapiro illuminates both Shakespeare's staggering achievement and what Elizabethans experienced in the course of 1599: sending off an army to crush an Irish rebellion, weathering an Armada threat from Spain, gambling on a fledgling East India Company, and waiting to see who will succeed their aging and childless Queen.This book brings the news and intrigue of the times together with a wonderful evocation of how Shakespeare worked as an actor, businessman and playwright. The result is an exceptionally immediate and gripping account of an inspiring moment in history.
language: English
title: 1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare
titlecomplete: 1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare
characters: William Shakespeare
genres: Historical, Biography, Theatre, British Literature, Drama, Nonfiction, Literature, Biography Memoir, History, Literary Criticism
ratings_count: 3830
places: United Kingdom
awards: awardedAt: 1136102400000
name: Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction, awardedAt: 1672560000000
name: The Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction
category: winner of winners
publisher: Faber and Faber