Customer Reviews

The World of Shakespeare

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Whether you are a Shakespeare fan, foe or student, THE WORLD OF SHAKESPEARE has something for you. As with most of the Usborne Publishing books, THE WORLD OF SHAKESPEARE features an all-encompassing look at many aspects of Shakespeare's life, works and world through wonderful pictures, photographs, and writings. For the Shakespeare foe or student, THE WORLD OF SHAKESPEARE lets you experience Shakespeare from a new perspective. Instead of deep, intellectual analyses, you will travel back to a different time and experience life in Elizabethan England: What was life like and what were the beliefs in Elizabethan England when Shakespeare lived and how did that affect his writings? What was life like in London at the time? What did the Globe Theatre look like, and what in the world was it, anyway? Was Shakespeare a feminist? For the Shakespeare fan, this book takes a look at areas you may not have considered: How has performance of Shakespeare plays changed through time? How does interpretation, acting and directing styles affect the performance? How does one begin to perform a Shakespeare play? It includes the expected short review of Shakespeare's life, but quickly goes on to more aspects of his works and culture than one would expect in such a short volume. Included at the end of the book are brief plots of all Shakespeare plays, a "Who's Who in the world of Shakespeare" guide, glossaries of terms & phrases, Shakespearean words, Shakespearean characters, Important dates, and even a Shakespeare quiz! When looking for a book for a high school Shakespeare Unit that would give a well-rounded look into Shakespeare's life, works and world , I found that this compact, sixty-four page THE WORLD OF SHAKESPEARE book won, hands down, as the best book to "experience" Shakespeare and hopefully dispel any negative attitudes already in the students' minds. The appealing layout, photographs and drawings on each of the pages, and the understandable (but not "dumbed-down") language causes the reader to not want to put the book down. With this book, even the Shakespeare foe would have to agree that Shakespeare is not so bad after all.

This book is an amazing resource for anyone interested in Shakespeare. It has fantastic pics and clear info on the man, his works, producing/acting/directing, and everything else a reader could ask for. It's terrific for young people ages 8 and above. A great reference for teachers, librarians, and theaters who have acotrs with limited knowledge of Shakespeare. Really beautifully done. Bravo!