Shakespeare's Restless World by Neil MacGregorMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Just occasionally you stumble across a gem-in-a-junkshop. This is one such discovery, and it is a must-have for Shakespeare enthusiasts. It is a very academic book which is written with an easy to read, entertaining style of narrative; this itself makes it unusual.
It looks at all the social and contemporary issues surrounding his writing, and describes all sorts of influences upon his world. What they snacked on while watching his plays (certainly not popcorn); city life and urban strife; disguise and deception; treason and plots; sex and the city; swordplay and swagger.
“Romeo and Juliet, with its upmarket knife gangs and its bloodstained streets, leaves no doubt that urban violence...for Shakespeare and his audience....was one of the big issues of the day”.
The interesting topics just run and run, and throughout the book are superb illustrations that serve to bring the text to life that much more.
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