Tongue-tied. Dull as dishwater. Without rhyme or reason. Leapfrog. Excellent. Gloomy. These words and phrases, so much a part of our daily language, were coined by William Shakespeare more than four hundred years ago. In what other ways has Shakespeare shaped and influenced our words and culture? Find out with Michael Rosen’s fascinating exploration of the enduring genius of the greatest playwright in the English language, SHAKESPEARE: HIS WORK AND HIS WORLD. Learn what theatre was like when Shakespeare created and acted in his plays. With dramatic illustrations by Robert Ingpen, the fluid text is sprinkled with Shakespearean quotations to re-create the Bard’s world of kings and queens, fairies and potions, and bloody beheadings. This sweeping account is a biography, a history, and a retelling of some of Shakespeare’s most famous plays—all in one approachable volume.
The book is meant to be an introduction to Shakespeare and includes:The Tempest – A Midsummer Night’s Dream – The Winter’s Tale Much Ado About Nothing – As You Like It – Cymbeline – The Two Gentlemen of Verona – The Merchant of Venice – King Lear – Macbeth – All’s Well that Ends Well The Taming of the Shrew – The Comedy of Errors – Measure for Measure Twelfth Night – Timon of Athens – Romeo and Juliet – Hamlet – Othello – Pericles
