James Shapiro
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Winner of the Baillie Gifford Prize's 25th Anniversary Winner of Winners award
What accounts for Shakespeare's transformation from talented poet and playwright to one of the greatest writers who ever lived? In this gripping account, James Shapiro sets out to answer this question, "succeed[ing] where others have fallen short." (Boston Globe)
1599 was an epochal year for Shakespeare and England. During
...Description
In this BBC series, American scholar James Shapiro examines the plays Shakespeare wrote during the turbulent reign of Elizabeth's successor, King James I. One of the new king's first official acts was to name Shakespeare a king's man. Shapiro convincingly argues that the dark, complex plays of Shakespeare's last decade-King Lear, Macbeth, and The Tempest, among others-mirrored both royal life and the era's profound social changes.