Books with author James Shapiro

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 that year, Shakespeare wrote four of his most famous plays: Henry the Fifth, Julius Caesar, As You Like It, and, most remarkably, Hamlet; Elizabethans sent off an army to crush an Irish rebellion, weathered an Armada threat from Spain, gambled on a fledgling East India Company, and waited to see who would succeed their aging and childless queen.James Shapiro illuminates both Shakespeare’s staggering achievement and what Elizabethans experienced in the course of 1599, bringing together the news and the intrigue of the times 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.

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 that year, Shakespeare wrote four of his most famous plays: Henry the Fifth, Julius Caesar, As You Like It, and, most remarkably, Hamlet; Elizabethans sent off an army to crush an Irish rebellion, weathered an Armada threat from Spain, gambled on a fledgling East India Company, and waited to see who would succeed their aging and childless queen.James Shapiro illuminates both Shakespeare’s staggering achievement and what Elizabethans experienced in the course of 1599, bringing together the news and the intrigue of the times 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.

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 that year, Shakespeare wrote four of his most famous plays: Henry the Fifth, Julius Caesar, As You Like It, and, most remarkably, Hamlet; Elizabethans sent off an army to crush an Irish rebellion, weathered an Armada threat from Spain, gambled on a fledgling East India Company, and waited to see who would succeed their aging and childless queen.James Shapiro illuminates both Shakespeare’s staggering achievement and what Elizabethans experienced in the course of 1599, bringing together the news and the intrigue of the times 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.

If it's in this world, it's in this book.Killmaiden's Compendium of Uncommon Occurrences has deployed Explorers on expeditions to uncover the beauty and dark mysteries of the Wide World for over 500 years. Twelve-year old Scout, Alexander Drake, has gone on many missions for the Compendium, but none as important as this one. He's going to find his father if he has to cross the Wide World to do it. He's taking his younger sister, their governess and an unexpected stowaway on his desperate assignment. Their journey will be one of the Compendium's greatest stories, if only they can return to tell it.

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 sees, and who he works with as he invests in the new Globe Theatre and creates four of his most famous plays -- Henry V, 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.This audio includes a selection of scenes from Henry V, Julius Caesar, As You Like It, and Hamlet featuring performances by Vanessa Redgrave, Paul Scofield, Ian Holm, and many more.

If it's in this world, it's in this book. Killmaiden's Compendium of Uncommon Occurrences has deployed Explorers on expeditions to uncover the beauty and dark mysteries of the Wide World for over 500 years. Twelve-year old Scout, Alexander Drake, has gone on many missions for the Compendium, but none as important as this one. He's going to find his father if he has to cross the Wide World to do it. He's taking his younger sister, their governess and an unexpected stowaway on his desperate assignment. Their journey will be one of the Compendium's greatest stories, if only they can return to tell it.

TRUMPTY DUMPTY: FAKING AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! “TRUMPTY DUMPTY’s” lyrics were written in January 2018. Soon after, it was performed and recorded by the bands, Twitter Litter and Earth Dance. Almost immediately, the music-streaming sites iTunes, Google Music, Pandora, Spotify, and some thirty-one other music-streaming sites worked out distribution agreements, for the Audio of “Trumpty Dumpty,” with nationally-renowned music aggregators, TuneCore. We are very pleased to present to you the complete lyrics for “TRUMPTY DUMPTY.” For the entire bands’ (Earth Dance or Twitter Litter) performance of this song, please go to the music-streaming sites mentioned above. Internationally-renowned U.S. protest songwriter and musician, Bob Dylan, has listened to “Trumpty Dumpty” and written a positive, favorable response to it, for which we are very grateful.“TRUMPTY DUMPTY” was released to the nation well before the important books, Fire and Fury,” “Unhinged,” and “Fear.” Since the beginning of 2018, “TRUMPTY DUMPTY” has been alerting Americans about President Trump’s Art of the Steal. Solid continuously-mounting evidence, in an investigation conducted by the United States Department of Justice, shows Mr. Trump, in a pre-conceived conspiracy with Russian czar Vladimir Putin, won the 2016 Presidential Election by defrauding (by hacking Hillary Clinton’s campaign headquarters) the United States. The Art of the Steal appears to be the only “art” Mr. Trump relies on and in which he prefers to engage.

The year 1599 was crucial in the Bard's artistic evolution as well as in the historical upheavals he lived through. That year's output-Henry V, Julius Caesar, As You Like It and (debatably) Hamlet-not only spans a shift in artistic direction and theatrical taste, but also echoes the intrigues of Queen Elizabeth's court and the downfall of her favorite, the Earl of Essex. Like other Shakespeare biographers, Columbia professor Shapiro notes the importance of mundane events in Shakespeare's art, starting here with the construction of the Globe Theatre and the departure of Will Kemp, the company's popular comic actor. Having a stable venue and repertory gave Shakespeare the space to write and experiment during the turmoil created by Essex's unsuccessful military ventures in Ireland, a threatened invasion by a second Spanish Armada and, finally, Essex's disastrous return to court. Shapiro is in a minority in arguing for Shakespeare initially composing Hamlet at the same time Essex was plotting a coup; there's little textual or documentary evidence for that dating. Still, Shapiro's shrewd discussion of what is arguably Shakespeare's greatest play, particularly its multiple versions, rounds out this accessible yet erudite work.

1599 was an epochal year for Shakespeare and England Shakespeare wrote four of his most famous plays: Henry the Fifth, Julius Caesar, As You Like It, and, most remarkably, Hamlet; Elizabethans sent off an army to crush an Irish rebellion, weathered an Armada threat from Spain, gambled on a fledgling East India Company, and waited to see who would succeed their aging and childless queen. James Shapiro illuminates both Shakespeare’s staggering achievement and what Elizabethans experienced in the course of 1599, bringing together the news and the intrigue of the times 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.