A fascinating story of history-shaping-art-shaping-history for the Shakespeare nerd and novice alike. Against the backdrop of a profoundly uncertain moment in political/religious/cultural history, I found particularly poignant the reflections on the centrality of communal storytelling and ritual in human life. I also enjoyed the glimpses of Shakespeare as an artist - one who balanced stretches of high-octane/high-output play-writing with private, restorative seasons of poetry-writing.

Excellent insight into the year of Hamlet, etc. Although much of the detail of Shakespeare's life is necessarily speculation, he is brilliant at extrapolating a picture of the playwright from known fact.

This book delves into hemispheres: the royal world and the plays of Shakespeare. Essex and his downfall are discussed. Nothing new there
What was interesting, and could be a help to those who may write a research paper, is the analysis of the plays. Synopses are given along with character profiles and plot evaluations. I wish I had had this book about 20 years ago!

2017 Lenten Buddy Reading Challenge book #14

don't read much non fiction, but this one caught my eye in the library (after a recommendation from F R Jameson). As some of you know I take a keen interest in local writers (eg I've recently read Anthony Cartwright's 'Heartland' set in Dudley, Mez Packer's 'Among Thieves' set in Coventry and Raphael Selbourne's 'Beauty' set in Wolverhampton). Well here is a local lad who did quite well for himself - Shakespeare. I live less than twenty miles from Stratford and am often hanging about the same haunts as young and old William - in the pub where he supposedly got so drunk he fell asleep under a tree outside; the river he walked along we do too (my wife and I) and reckon it can't have changed that much, apart from the pylons and stuff; the church where his parents got married etc etc. So I'm looking forward to reading this year-in-the-life.

...was great, Shapiro really convinces in his theory that Shakespeare was deeply influenced by what was happening around him, and how this is often overlooked because his writing 'transcends time'. The literary analysis held me spellbound: he looks closely at how Shakespeare revised his manuscripts and it's utterly fascinating to see this... greatness in action. I will give an example or two and more about the historical context later I hope (v. busy at the moment, editing my book - I've always wanted to say that!)...

I did get fiction withdrawal though and had to sneak in a couple of short stories over the period of reading this.

Often entertaining and sometimes illuminating, this book is an imaginative attempt to ground Shakespeare's works in his times. It will be of special interest to readers who are equally drawn to the history of Elizabethan England and Shakespeare's work, as the purely historical exposition constitutes a large part of the book. Surveys works written in and around 1599, which Shapiro identifies as Henry V, Julius Cesar, As You Like It, and Hamlet. I liked some of his closest readings best, and particularly found his reading of As You Like It insightful. I was somewhat disappointed with his reading of Hamlet - he went to some length to set up the context for reading it as about the transition from the old age of chivalry to the new age of modernity, but ended up focusing on revisions Shakespeare made to the play, which was less compelling.

Taken with a grain of salt, it's a worthwhile read.

This is an interesting look at a single year in the life of William Shakespeare and the political and social events which were happening at the time. In 1599 Shakespeare was thirty five and, that year, would write four plays - Henry V, Julius Caesar, As You Like It and Hamlet. Not a bad year's work you would think, but Shapiro is full of insight about the plays and the events which inspired, or shaped them.

During this year, there would be an Irish rebellion, the threat of invasion from Spain and the fledgling East India Company, as well as events of Court. The country had one eye on an ageing monarch and the obvious concerns about who would take power when she died without a names successor, while another scanned the horizon, searching for an armada which they feared would come into sight. Alongside these events, Shakespeare was involved in literally dismantling a playhouse and resurrecting it as the Globe. An enjoyable and in depth look at a pivotal year in Shakespeare's life and of his wish to change theatre.

I do not think there is a more knowledgeable and competent authority on the topic of William Shakespeare and the impact of the playwright's world on his work. When I finished reading "The Year of Lear", which Shapiro penned after this book, I knew I had to read this one. Everything I said in my review of that book applies to this one, and then some. Shapiro takes a topic which many people would avoid because of its complexity, and makes it completely accessible to the novice. Rather than presenting Shakespeare and his times as intimidating, Shapiro lays out an intriguing and fascinating description of how Shakespeare's world impacted his work. For example, 1599 was a year that saw many attempts on the life of Elizabeth I, and the times in general were rife with assassination attempts on monarchs. As a result, we see how Shakespeare brings that front and center by having Brutus agonize over taking part in Caesar's murder. Not only does the author make this subject interesting, but he actually presents it in such a way that the book reads more like a novel than an impeccably researched work of historical non-fiction.

Part history, part textual examination and part biography; ‘1599’ does an excellent job of putting Shakespeare’s work – and the man himself – into context. It was a momentous year for The Bard, he wrote ‘Henry V’, ‘Julius Caesar’, ‘As You Like It’ and started on ‘Hamlet’. But it was also a tumultuous year for England, with an aged queen, over-ambitious lords and the threat of invasion (and indeed insurrection) hanging in the air. Shapiro takes on the task of showing how the events of the world affected the plays of the author.

A flaw (which the book acknowledges) is that we actually know little about the playwright, and so there’s a fair degree of speculation. That said there are no wild imaginings into the internal life of William Shakespeare, and even when the words ‘probably’ and ‘possibly’ are used, readers will most likely find themselves nodding in agreement. The tale of Elizabeth and Essex unfolds concurrently and, with a stronger historical footing, is vigorously narrated. I enjoyed both those sections of the book immensely. It was only the third strand that slightly disappointed, in that unless you have got a good textual knowledge of the plays in question, their discussion can feel a little dry.

As such I’ve given the book four stars, though if you had Shakespeare’s 1599 plays to hand while reading it, I imagine it’d be easy to give five out of five.

This is what I wanted in a biography about Shakespeare. It looked into the events of his time and discussed how those events contributed to his work. It also talked about why his writing appealed to both the rustic and the aristocracy of his time. It also discussed how he grew and progressed as a writer. As we know, Shakespeare was great at stealing stories from others and reworking them into a better story. The book also discusses this and why his versions are such improvements on the originals.

This is a biography, so in my opinion that translates into a little slow. It was a bit slow at parts, but it held my attention and was not crude like the other biography, Will in the World. Whereas that book focused on every vice in Elizabethan England or Shakespeare's life and gave extensive detail, this book might admit that Shakespeare was probably having an affair, but it didn't go into immense detail about why that is believed. It just admitted it and went on.

This book focuses on the year 1599 because it was a prolific year for Shakespeare, the Globe Theater was built this year, and it was also a year of great turmoil in Elizabethan England. It does give some history prior to 1599 when needed and it does extend into the future as well to finish out Shakespeare's life.

All in all, I loved this read as a glimpse into Shakespeare's creative genius.

Famously the biography of Shakespeare is usually very sparse or obscure - and probably best. But this book situates the plays and the author, theater manager, director, actor, man within the complicated daily events, politics, wars, rivalries, restrictions and society of 1599 and other citizens along with brilliant readings and connections of the plays in that one amazingly productive year. The Henry IV and V plays, Julius Caesar, As You Like It, Hamlet especially discussed in new ways and with eye toward the whole canon. The bibliographic essay at the end of his research is inspired. Written in a fast paced, real world style anyone would like.

A really clever idea: to write a biography of William Shakespeare by focusing on one year in his life: 1599, in which he wrote Henry V, Julius Caesar, As You Like It, and Hamlet. I had never really appreciated how much of contemporary life and politics he put into his plays: the threat of Spanish invasion, the Earl of Essex being sent to Ireland to try to suppress Tyrone’s uprising, and his own company’s construction of the Globe theatre. This was another one of the books I put on my list of books to read after Finals. It was a beezer! I found it really easy to read: compelling and informative, and reflective of a change in how I view literature since the days when I was a student: when I wasn’t that interested in the political and historical context because I was ignorant and afraid of doing more reading. Now I’m humbler and no longer afraid of not knowing something. It makes me want to read the follow-up: 1606.

What a marvelous book from a brilliant Shakespearean and historian.

Though the historical parts do not engage me to the same degree as the parts about Shakespeare the writer and creator attuned to his time yet dealing with it with an aesthetic and cognitive brilliance, they are still engaging. In this analysis is a sharp awareness of the changing world of Elizabethan England in the year 1599, the conflicts of (possible) war with Ireland and with Spain, the dangerous aura of the Earl of Essex and his chivalrous of honor, and the political and cultural and religious climate that is set between the memory of an older world and an intimation of a newer one.

What most engaged me is that James Shapiro is an astute analyst of Shakespeare the artist who in 1599 gave us plays as masterful as Henry V, Julius Caesar, As You Like It, and that most popular of his great tragedies, the Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. In each of these plays, Shakespeare looks at his world through the lenses of older worlds and times. He complicates, sharpens, enriches, and vividly creates works that challenge his audiences. He moves beyond his contemporary reputation both as the poet of love and of honey and as the master of the English history play. With Brutus, Rosalind, King Henry V, and Hamlet, Shakespeare stretches the limits of characterization and themes and storytelling and language. War, honor, love, revenge, nationhood, power - all of these potent concerns are what Shakespeare touched on in ways very engaging for the audiences of the time. Notably, the fuller Henry V, and Julius Caesar, do not appear in print until some time after. As You Like It takes some time also to appear. And Hamlet gets revised from its more dark and existential first version (represented most in the 2nd Quarto) into the sharper revenge tragedy of the Folio, a change and shift not always reflected in the received, conflated Hamlet of most editorial and textual tradition up to now (the Hamlet that was the play I read regularly; I think it would be time to explore the contrasts between Q2 and Folio for myself).

My impression of Shakespeare is that of an artist who is on the lookout for stories, who likes old stories and books of great heroes and nations and epochal times. Shakespeare is attuned to finding new ways for language and storytelling and drama, wanting to go beyond his established and respected reputation as the author of Lucrece, Romeo and Juliet, and of love poetry. He reinvents the history play with Henry V, comedy with As You Like It, and tragedy with Julius Caesar and Hamlet. He avoids more outright politics and contemporary topicality, but he is nonetheless a topical writer of his time, and he does this best by often looking at the past. Of course Shakespeare becomes topical in a different way during the reign of King James (see The Year of Lear), but for Shapiro, and for many a Shakespeare fan, 1599 is the time where Shakespeare goes from great to greater.

Either way, Shakespeare is the pinnacle for me, and not just because he was declared the pinnacle. I keep on returning to him, thinking and feeling his brilliance in telling stories, creating characters, giving gripping drama in various ways, mixing genres and modes, and setting up the template for our future, and being the consummate high and popular artist of the stage and thus foreshadowing high and popular art together in film & TV & novels & poetry. And 1599 is where I think, and I think James Shapiro thinks, he truly became someone new, even better than he was.