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1599 was an epochal year for Shakespeare and England Shakespeare wrote four of his most famous plays: Henry the Fifth, Julius Caesar, As You Like It, and, most remarkably, Hamlet; Elizabethans sent off an army to crush an Irish rebellion, weathered an Armada threat from Spain, gambled on a fledgling East India Company, and waited to see who would succeed their aging and childless queen. James Shapiro illuminates both Shakespeare's staggering achievement and what Elizabethans experienced in the course of 1599, bringing together the news and the intrigue of the times with a wonderful evocation of how Shakespeare worked as an actor, businessman, and playwright. The result is an exceptionally immediate and gripping account of an inspiring moment in history. Average Rating:
 Rating:  - A Work of Genius About a GeniusThere are two major reasons why this book will be a classic. First, if you ever thought that after 400 years, there could be nothing new to say about William Shakespeare, this will prove you wrong. Although the author graciously acknowledges predecessors, his ability to place Shakespeare's plays within the context of their times is extraordinary. You have a much better grasp of the plays that Shakespeare wrote in 1599 - including Julius Ceasar, Henry V, As You Like It and Hamlet - after ... Read More Rating: - Amazing scholarship and entertaining writingOccasionally, you come across a book in which the scholar has so much depth in his or her subject matter that he (she) can see patterns and pick out details that are simply amazing. This is one of those books. Author James Shapiro has obviously spent a lifetime getting to know Shakespeare's works and the time in which he lived and worked. That knowledge is fully on display in this book. Shapiro sets out the premise that 1599 was a seminal year in Shakespeare's professional ... Read More Rating: - Great History; Great LiteratureJames Shapiro gives me much more than I received from an elective college class in Shakespeare. Concentrating on the year 1599 (actually from mid-1598 through early 1600), the author discusses the historical background of the times, the politics of the Elizabethan age, the wars in which England was involved, the geography of London and southern England, the life of Shakespeare as well as of the other playwrights of the time, and folds all this into a marvelous web of a united history so that the reader ... Read More Rating:  - Parts better than the wholeI thought this book would focus more on how Shakespeare's daily life both influenced what how he wrote during this watershed year of 1599. Instead, the "year" is more of a device on which to hang the events and plays upon. I didn't find the framing device particularly compelling but when Mr. Shapiro connected current events to the plays and most successfully, "Henry the Fifth," I found it valuable. He also does an excellent job with Hamlet, showing the influences of essays, a recently developed ... Read More Rating: - A brilliantly written book!This book is one of those rare works in which you read it word by word and each phrase creates another thought in your mind. There is focus on a few of the plays worked upon in this year, The ones of most interest were Henry V, Julius Caesar, and Hamlet. The author does a superb job in blending the history of the moment with the plots, the characters, and words. For anyone who has matured with Shakespeare, I played Richard III in grammar school, under the aegis of Redmond O'Hanlon, a $64,000 Question ... Read More 
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