Wonderfully written survey of an important year in Shakespeare's life and Elizabethan culture. This book combines the best of literary criticism, history, and cultural studies. A worthy read for experts and general enthusiasts alike. Shapiro directs our attention to a period in Elizabethan history when tensions and anxieties were peaking. This is an important tale to remember: we often celebrate the end of the century as the Golden Age of English culture and literary achievement; but just around the corner was the growing concern about the royal succession, another Spanish invasion, and all out civil war among those vying for power once the Virgin Queen died. Shapiro does a masterful job giving us a snapshot into this history while directing our attention to the literary achievements growing out of this ambiguous moment.

The Author is trying to uncover the thoughts of William Shakespeare based on politic, social and cultural events of the year 1599.

The book is good study matter for the historian and great pleasure for every lover of Shakespeare and his plays.

After finishing the book the reader become aware that there is not much of difference between paintings of for example Leonardo Da Vinci and the famous or infamous plays of William Shakespeare.

Both are codes !

Both contains many times hidden messages sometimes completely Opposites as the content they are representing.

It is further very well explained that to write and present play for a Queen could be in that time very delicate kind of business and that Queen was not always pleased with her Royal author.

For example to perform a play about Tyrant in the shape of a king Henry VIII at the court of more than Absolute Queen Elisabeth was more than daring business hence the outcry of the Queen self. " We are aware We are the King Henry VIII !" Needles to say that that was about the end of the Henry the VIII play in Elisabeth England.

Then there was for me personally several funny moments when I recollect another great writter Terry Prachett and his humble tribute to the Master writter in his series Flat Earth series with book Wyrd sisters and his very specific version of Hamlet.

The unrest between Catolic versus protestant England again illustrates this Monty Pythonish outcry " Do you know they are even praying to a one onmypotent God of whole universe Yes I know but so are we "

The book contains also great collection of other possible sources ( means books ) that author did used
To write his exhorting account of the year 1599 in the private matters of William Shakespeare not only as an author but also as an parent, husband and friend.

Concise & consistently fascinating; clear about what is fact & what is speculation. Looking forward to 1606.

I loved this book! It was wonderful to learn so much about the political and social environment in which Shakespeare wrote. I was expecting it to be a bit dry but was very pleasantly surprised to find it a bit of a page turner! Definitely recommended for Shakespeare fans

This was an exhaustive, well-researched look at the year 1599 in Shakespeare’s life. He and his partners built the Globe theater in Southwark; he finished and staged “Henry V;” he wrote and staged “As You Like It” and “Julius Caesar;” and wrote - and re-wrote “Hamlet.”

The plays are dissected and show originality and development in Shakespeare’s writing. The author talks about other playwrights and actors of the era, juxtaposing the info against the political unrest of the era: the Earl of Essex was sent to Ireland to quell an uprising and failed miserably, angering the aging Queen Elizabeth. This was an era of tip-toeing through life, trying not to attract attention to one’s self—unless you were a playwright apparently.

You all know how I admire thorough scholarship in my historical reading, but this book felt like a doctoral dissertation all the way through to me. I’m surprised it was published as a book for mass marketing b/c even w/ my English degree, I found this book tough sledding. It was just a little too dry and methodical for me.

Wow, Nick Hornby was right! I can't imagine not being able to teach any four of these plays without the valuable knowledge gained from this insightful book. It was great to read how the plays themselves were incidental products of the volatile political and social era in which Shakespeare wrote. Read this along with Bryson's World as Stage biography, and it seems like the current trend it literary scholarship is to admit what the scholar doesn't know and will have no way to ever figure out. Can't wait to see As You Like It on stage a the end of summer.

In 1599 the author states that Shakespeare who wrote four plays, a particularly productive and inventive year for Shakespeare. The book discusses the plays, Henry the Fifth, Julius Caesar, As You Like it and Hamlet, the building of the Globe and Elizabethan politics. A little detailed in parts but plenty happened to make it an interesting read.

I read James Shapiro's 1599 three hundred and six years after its subject, the year it came out. It is the best written book on Shakespeare I have read in decades, and since Shakespeare is only known because he wrote so well, Shapiro's is the the most Shakespearean book on Shakespeare. From the first page account of the deconstruction (no, not the French mind-game, but a carpentry event) of The Theater
at night to prepare for the construction of the Globe miles south and across the river, this book reads like gripping narrative in parts.
When I saw James Shapiro at the Shakespeare Association of America, he told me he had spent three years revising it. So here is an ideal model for scholars, one unlikely to be followed under the pressures for publication. Research and write for years, then revise for three more.

What a fascinating read this turned out to be. I read a lot of Shakespeare growing up, primarily because we had a collected plays at home and I didn't often have access to much besides classics. This left an enduring curiosity about the man who wrote an incredibly large number of successful plays. Shapiro does a masterful job of not only providing a glimpse of the man behind these plays, but also situating his works in history. I thoroughly enjoyed the commentary on religion, politics and culture in 1599. However this is not a usual biography -- Shapiro often speculates and lays out the most probable theories, but more often than not he does back them with evidence. Overall a highly recommended read for anyone interested in Shakespeare!

What a neat idea! Interdisciplinary approach to exploring the zeitgeist of late Tudor England while also providing a refreshing literary analysis of the plays Shakespeare wrote in 1599, including some insights about Hamlet that I hadn't really known about until I read the book. One of the most informative and yet enjoyable books I have read, it is dense but I finished it relatively quickly. I totally recommend this book to lovers of Shakespeare, lovers of Tudor history, lovers of literary analysis.

William Shakespeare was brought to Tudor London, the English capital city of playhouses and theatregoing public. He has gained success from his works and invested in a permanent theatre company himself. His later works on the stage feature a series of dramas and tragedies exploring the great questions of the day such as religious conflict and assassination. By the end of the year in 1599, Shakespeare had become a recognised brand. He was widely admired as the finest dramatist of the day.

This is another wonderful book by this author about Shakespeare and the events in the world during important times of his life. I genuinely appreciated his insights into As You Like It and Hamlet, especially. I'm giving it a slightly lower rating because I felt he spent much too long explaining the background to the war in Ireland, which honestly didn't matter to the point of this book, about 1599 and how it influenced The Bard. So, 4.5 stars.