The Year of Lear: Shakespeare in 1606

James Shapiro

Jan 2016 · Tantor Media Inc · Narrated by Robert Fass

About this audiobook

In the years leading up to 1606, since the death of Queen Elizabeth and the arrival in England of her successor, King James of Scotland, Shakespeare's great productivity had ebbed, and it may have seemed to some that his prolific genius was a thing of the past. But that year, at age forty-two, he found his footing again, finishing a play he had begun the previous autumn-King Lear-then writing two other great tragedies, Macbeth and Antony and Cleopatra. The Year of Lear sheds light on these three great tragedies by placing them in the context of their times, while also allowing us greater insight into how Shakespeare was personally touched by such events as a terrible outbreak of plague and growing religious divisions. For anyone interested in Shakespeare, this is an indispensable book.

About the author

James Shapiro is the Larry Miller Professor of English at Columbia University and the award-winning author of several books, including 1599 and Contested Will. He serves on the Board of Governors of the Folger Shakespeare Library and the Board of Directors of the Royal Shakespeare Company. James lives in New York.

A two-time Audie Award winner, veteran actor Robert Fass is equally at home in a wide variety of styles, genres, characters, and dialects. He has earned multiple AudioFile Earphones Awards, including for his narration of Francisco Goldman's novel Say Her Name.