Shakespeare's Life and World

by Katherine Duncan-Jones

A specially commissioned biography of William Shakespeare by the author of "Ungentle Shakespeare" .

William Shakespeare bequeathed a legacy of words unequalled in the history of Western literature, yet historical records provide only the barest of details about his life. As this wonderfully illustrated volume shows, there are clues throughout his plays, poems and sonnets to what he experienced as he made his progress from a Warwickshire market town to fame and fortune on the London stage: how the glover’s son from Stratford-upon-Avon acquired the knowledge and learning that made his plays so intellectually rich; what he did between 1585 and 1592, the so-called 'lost years', and how close he was to his family. By combining extracts from Shakespeare’s work with a wide range of other sources, particularly eyewitness accounts, Katherine Duncan-Jones brings us closer to the man – and to the sights and sounds of Elizabethan and Jacobean England – than ever before.

Typeset at The Folio Society in Baskerville with Helvetica display.
Quarter bound in buckram with printed paper sides designed by Chris Wadden.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography

308 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Katherine Dorothea Duncan-Jones, FRSL (13 May 1941 – 16 October 2022) was an English literature and Shakespeare scholar and was also a Fellow of New Hall, Cambridge, and then Somerville College, Oxford. She was also Professor of English Literature at the University of Oxford from 1998 to 2001. She was a scholar of Shakespeare and his contemporaries.

Reviews

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very good-looking book, being a Folio edition, and well illustrated. But the text was broken up by long passages extracted from Shakespeare's writings, or from the works of his contemporaries. I found that I was reading through these passages without taking anything in. It didn't really tell me very much about Shakespeare's Life & World that I couldn't have found out from a more interesting history book. Disappointed.

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Detailed and lavishly illustrated collection of anecdotes, poetry, excerpts from plays, as well as letters, legal and governmental documents and much other material from Shakespeare and his contemporaries.

[Michelle · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not great. I understand some speculation is necessary since he lived SUCH a long time ago, but every sentence about Shakespeare was he may have done this and he possibly saw that. There was more information on Elizabeth I in Chapter 2 than there was about Shakespeare in the rest of the book combined. Best part was in the first chapter though when the author quotes an earlier biographer that mentions Shakespeare's father was a butcher, and when the quote ends says "Shakespeare's father was not a butcher"... LOL amusing anyway

[Gerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had studied Julius Caesar for O level but was not too familiar with his other work until I began teaching at Wroxton College with a colleague who was a Shakespeare s solar and I was fortunate to see many productions. This book helped to provide a fuller picture

[Ian Banks · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lavish collection of extracts, recounts, historical and household records all contributing to a vivid portrait of Shakespeare and his contemporaries. I’d have liked a little more of the author’s work as she has a lively, witty and knowledgeable voice but the whole package makes up for that.