Shakespeare Elizabethan

This short biography of William Shakespeare by world famous writer Bill Bryson brims with the author’s inimitable wit and intelligence. Includes an exclusive Q&A session with the author. Shakespeare’s life, despite the scrutiny of generations of biographers and scholars, is still a thicket...

‘A lively picture of multiple operators scrambling to steal a march on the competition . . . Lavishly detailed’ FINANCIAL TIMES ‘This is Shakespearean scholarship at its best, brilliantly researched yet compulsively readable. It's a book for our times, enduringly fascinating and appealing...

In England in the Age of Shakespeare, Jeremy Black takes readers on a tour of life in the streets, homes, farms, churches, and palaces of the Bard’s era. Panning from play to audience and back again, Black shows how Shakespeare's plays would have been experienced and interpreted by those who paid to see them. From the dangers of travel to the indignities of everyday life in teeming London, Black explores the jokes, political and economic references, and small asides that Shakespeare’s audiences would have recognized.

Bloomsbury presents Death By Shakespeare by Kathryn Harkup, read by Nicky Diss. A deep dive into the science behind the creative ways Shakespeare killed off his characters. William Shakespeare found dozens of different ways to kill off his characters, and audiences today still enjoy the same...

William Collins Books and Decca Records are proud to present ARGO Classics, a historic catalogue of classic prose and verse read by some of the world’s most renowned voices. Originally released as vinyl records, these expertly remastered stories are now available to download for the first time...

'Enchanting' Simon Russell Beale --- 'Remarkable' James Shapiro 'Wonderful . . . compulsively readable' Nicholas Hytner Why do the collected works of an Elizabethan writer continue to speak to us as if they were written yesterday? When Robert McCrum began his recovery from a life-changing stroke...

Henry IV, Part 1 is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written no later than 1597 PERFORMED BY HARRY ANDREWS AND CAST Henry IV, Part 1 is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written no later than 1597. It is the second play in Shakespeare's...

 The Life of the Author: William Shakespeare delivers a fresh and exciting new take on the life of William Shakespeare, offering listeners a biography that brings to the foreground his working life as a poet, playwright, and actor. It also explores the nature of his relationships with his friends, colleagues, and family and asks important questions about the stories we tell about Shakespeare based on the evidence we actually have about the man himself.  

154 poems performed by by the wonderful Sir John Gielgud in this Shakepseare collection of Sonnets. Shakespeare's sonnets are 154 poems in sonnet form written by William Shakespeare that deal with such themes as the passage of time, love, beauty and mortality. All but two of the poems were first...

Another in the great Caedmon Shakespeare series from the 1960s. Though classified as a comedy in the First Folio and sharing certain aspects with Shakespeare's other romantic comedies, the play is perhaps most remembered for its dramatic scenes, and is best known for Shylock and the famous...

The seven ages are: infant, schoolboy, lover, soldier, justice, pantaloon and second childishness ready by Sir John Gielgud The seven ages are: infant, schoolboy, lover, soldier, justice, pantaloon and second childishness. The speach about the seven ages of man happens in 'As You Like It'. The...

Sir Derek Jacobi and cast perform another Shakespeare classic which has been released for the first time as a digital download. The play opens with the King of Navarre and three noble companions, Berowne, Dumaine, and Longaville, taking an oath to devote themselves to three years of study...

Performed by Sir Michael Redgrave and others, The Tempest possesses a truly wonderful narrative carried by a wonderful cast. Available to download for the first time online. The Tempest is a play by William Shakespeare, believed written in 1610–11, and thought by many critics to be the last...

ANOTHER POWERFUL GREAT BRITISH PERFORMANCE PERFORMANCE OF A WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE PLAY. PERFORMED BY THE MAGNIFICENT VANESSA REDGRAVE AND CAST. As You Like It is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 or early 1600 and first published in the folio of 1623...

William Collins Books and Decca Records are proud to present ARGO Classics, a historic catalogue of classic prose and verse read by some of the world’s most renowned voices. Originally released as vinyl records, these expertly remastered stories are now available to download for the first time...

The Merry Wives of Windsor is a comedy by William Shakespeare, first published in 1602, though believed to have been written prior to 1597. The Merry Wives of Windsor features the fat knight Sir John Falstaff, and is Shakespeare's only play to deal exclusively with contemporary Elizabethan era...

Measure for Measure is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1603 or 1604 performed by Sir John Gielgud and cast. Measure for Measure is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1603 or 1604. It was (and continues to be) classified as comedy, but...

Sir Rex Harrison and Cast perform together in this wonderful production which is available for the first time on digital download. Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy by William Shakespeare about two pairs of lovers, Benedick and Beatrice, and Claudio and Hero. Benedick and Beatrice are engaged...

These remarkable letters represent a wealth of as-yet-undiscovered knowledge about Shakespeare's relationships, personality, and career as he carved out his place in the chaotic world of 16th-century London. Whether you are a Shakespeare scholar, merely a fan, or even if you have never read any of his works, the stories of the The Lost Letters will enthrall you with their fascinating and true tale.

The Two Gentlemen of Verona is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1590 or 1591. It is considered by some to be Shakespeare's first play, and is often seen as his first tentative steps in laying out some of the themes and tropes with which he would later deal in...