Soul of the Age
Subtitle
The Life, Mind and World of William Shakespeare
Jonathan Bate's "Soul of the Age" brings us closer than ever to understanding what being Shakespeare was actually like. How did plague turn Shakespeare from a jobbing hack into a courtly poet? How did Bottom's dream rewrite the Bible? How did Shakespeare's plays lead to the deaths of an earl and a king? And why was he the one dramatist of his generation never to be imprisoned?Weaving a dazzling tapestry of Elizabethan beliefs and obsessions, private passions and political intrigues, "Soul of the Age" leads us on an exhilarating tour of the extraordinary, colourful and often violent world that shaped and informed Shakespeare's thinking. Written by one of the world's leading experts, it combines almost everything there is to know about the man and his work in one sensational narrative.
Bio
Sir Jonathan Bate is a Foundation Professor of environmental humanities with a joint appointment in the Department of English and the Global Futures Laboratory, School of Sustainability.
Praise for this book
An excellent writer! He achieves a resonant and complex portrait, constantly alert to new lines of enquiry and unexpected conclusions ... A triumph of precision, learning and intelligent innovation.
Charles Nicholl Sunday Telegraph, Book of the Week
Bate probably knows as much as any single person can know about Shakespeare ... Surprising, fresh, exhilarating, brilliant.
Richard Eyre The Guardian
