William Shakespeare: An Illustrated Biography [Abridged] [Hardcover]

Anthony Holden (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2002

William Shakespeare's life was as colorful, varied, and dramatic as his works. He was the Warwickshire country boy who "disappeared" for 7 years before ending up in London as an apprentice actor; whose peers could scarcely keep up with the plays he turned out for them; who rapidly became a favourite at the court of Elizabeth I; and who returned to Stratford a prosperous "gentleman," proud to realize his father's dream of a family coat of arms before his death at 52. This is an illustrated biography of the most renowned of all dramatists and poets.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

“For those who want to know something about the author after reading or viewing the plays, this book is ideal.”

Review

'Anthony Holden certainly does not pull his punches in his choice of biographical subjects. Having already taken on the Prince of Wales in Charles: A Biography, Olivier and Tchaikovsky, this time Holden has gone for no less than the Bard himself, with his action-packed biography, William Shakespeare. Dismissing claims that there is nothing left to say about Shakespeare, Holden's bold study argues that, on the contrary, there is a great deal to say about Shakespeare: The archives are in fact rich with traces of the Bard as husband, father, actor, dramatist, poet and Stratford lad made good. Holden also argues that "if each generation recreates Shakespeare in its own image", then we need a new version of the Bard in the 21st century. As a result he obliges with a racy, incident-packed account of the glovemaker's son from Stratford who rose to subsequent immortality via the stage of Elizabethan London. As well as poring over the established evidence, Holden makes some controversial, but intriguing claims. Not only was Shakespeare a covert Catholic, who spent his so-called "lost years" as a budding actor in Catholic households in Lancashire under the name of "Shakeshafte", but he also suffered from sexually transmitted diseases, experienced a nervous breakdown, fathered an illegitimate son via his middle- aged landlady and sailed close to the political wind with what Holden sees as his residual Catholic and "republican instincts". It's all very entertaining, if at timess lightly out on an interpretative limb, but this is a lively and refreshing approach to the Bard as an Elizabethan man behaving badly, which may not be for all time, but is pretty resonant for our times.' -Jerry Brotton, Amazon.co.uk

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group; abridged edition edition (April 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316851590
• ISBN-13: 978-0316851596
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 9.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,637,708 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)