Search results for ""author elizabeth"

This book is a complete edition of the authentic poems, English and Latin, of the Elizabethan priest, poet and martyr S. Robert Southwell, offering new texts based on the very manuscripts which were circulated in secret among English Catholics in the years after the poet's death. This edition, by drawing its texts directly from a complete re-examination of these contemporary manuscripts, makes these poems more than items of literature; it allows them to regain some of their original purpose of communicating forbidden theologies and doctrines amongst a criminalised and near-silenced readership of secret, persecuted groups. These are the poems of those Catholics who did not or could not flee the country as the Elizabethan State bore down upon their faith in the last two decades of the sixteenth century. Southwell's new visions and visualisations in English bear their fruit a generation later in the works of Donne and Herbert. His rare Latin verses (here widely available for the first time, accompanied by a new translation) show also that that the Augustans, even Milton, owe him a creative debt.

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This anthology aligns feminist essays about Shakespeare with essays on other dramatists of the English Renaissance, particularly Peele, Marlowe, Webster, Marston, and Middleton. Foregrounding the intertextuality of Elizabethian drama, the thirteen essays_eleven of them new_explore the contribution of the stage to various feminist subjects, drawing on diverse theoretical approaches_formalists, materialist, historical, new historicist, deconstructionist, psychoanalytic, rhetorical_and resisting the figuration of feminist criticism as simple or univocal. Essayists include Laura Bromley, Mary Ann Bushman, Christy Desmet, Coppelia Kahn, Margaret Mikesell, Thomas Moisan, Jeanie Grant Moorem Phyllis Rackin, James Schiffer, Jeremy Tambling, Carolyn Whitney-Brown, and the editors. With extensive bibliographies.

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'A masterful storyteller with an intricate knowledge of his subject.' The Daily Telegraph 'Alan Judd knows more about the secret world than any other writer living. To have him turn his expert eye on the world of Christopher Marlowe – and on Francis Walsingham, the Elizabethan George Smiley – is a special kind of literary treat.' Mick Herron‘Absolutely spellbinding. I gobbled it up in two days and could not stop' Miranda Seymour Danger and dissent stalk the streets and taverns of Elizabethan England. The Queen’s chief spymaster, Francis Walsingham, and his team of agents must maintain the highest levels of vigilance to ward off Catholic plots and the ever-present threat of invasion. One operative in particular - a young Cambridge undergraduate of humble origins, controversial beliefs and literary genius who goes by the name of Kit Marlowe - is relentless in his pursuit of intelligence for the Crown. When he is killed outside an inn in Deptford, his mysterious death becomes the subject of rumours and suspicion that are never satisfactorily resolved. Years later, Thomas Phelippes, a former colleague of Marlowe’s and a man once much valued by Walsingham, finds himself imprisoned in the Tower. When he is visited by an emissary of the new king, however, it becomes clear that his long fall from favour may be reversed if he will furnish his monarch with every detail he is able to recall about his murdered friend’s life and death. But just what is it that so fascinates King James about the famously mercurial playwright-spy, and does Phelippes know enough to secure his own redemption? Virtuosic, gripping and meticulously researched, award-winning writer Alan Judd turns is at the peak of his powers in this remarkable novel about a literary genius whose short-life and violent death composed one of the most fascinating unresolved mysteries of all time.

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‘A lively book that captures the essence of a modern monarchy and a new Elizabethan era’ - Lyndsy Spence, The Lady‘Down-to-earth and insightful’ - Daily MailIt is 1952 and Britain is changing. The Second World War is over, but the country is still scarred, recovering from six years of horror and still in the grip of food rationing. The British Empire is crumbling as countries fight for their independence both literally and physically. And George VI, the king who had refused to abandon London, is dead.Thorns in the Crown is the story of a country on the precipice, divided between those who held firm to old values and traditions and those who were fighting for modernity and progression. Featuring memories and reflections of those who were part of the coronation, Barry Turner presents a unique look at Britain as it came to terms with the second Elizabethan age.

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The Nick Hern Books RSC Classics - a series of rarely performed plays from the 16th and 17th centuries, published alongside their resurrection by the RSC in Stratford-upon-Avon and the West End. Resonating with echoes of Measure for Measure and Hamlet, John Marston's tragicomedy The Malcontent is a fabulous study of courtly intrigue, betrayal and jealousy. The true Duke of Genoa has lost his throne to the usurper, Pietro. The Duke returns to court in disguise to expose the corruption and regain his rightful office. This edition of the play is edited with an introduction by Peter Thomson and preface by Gregory Doran. The plays in the RSC Classics series reflect the diversity of styles, themes and subjects of the Elizabethan and Jacobean stage, and include a 'new' addition to the Shakespeare canon.

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In this intriguing insight into the work and history of a museum, V&A director and historian Dr Tristram Hunt brings together ten renowned V&A curators to tell the stories behind ten of their most treasured objects. 'Tipu's Tiger' (an almost life-size wooden semi-automaton mauling a European soldier), the 'Great Bed of Ware' (an Elizabethan bed for 8 people) and a Shakespeare First Folio are among the featured highlights whose route to the V&A collections are entertainingly revealed. Through these stories, this insightful history of museum curation - a world of careful study and sometimes remarkable fortuity - shows how the priorities of a museum are shaped and change over time. Published to explore in more depth some of the stories featured in the BBC six part series Secrets of the Museum.

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From the Royal Shakespeare Company a fresh new edition of Shakespeare''s much-loved comedy of the battle between the sexesTHIS EDITION INCLUDES: An illuminating introduction to Much Ado About Nothing by award-winning scholar Jonathan Bate The play - with clear and authoritative explanatory notes on each page A helpful scene-by-scene analysis and key facts about the play An introduction to Shakespeare''s career and the Elizabethan theatre A rich exploration of approaches to staging the play featuring photographs of key productionsThe most enjoyable way to understand a Shakespeare play is to see it or participate in it. This unique edition presents a historical overview of Much Ado About Nothing in performance, recommends film versions, takes a detailed look at specific productions and includes interviews with two leading directors and an actor Nicholas Hytner, Marianne Ell

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Explore ghosts and mysteries across the American Southwest. Learn about the traveling rocks of Devil’s Racetrack in Death Valley. Experience the spirits of criminals in the Yuma Territorial Prison, and find out the strange way one prisoner escaped. Stay the night in the St. James Hotel and encounter spirits that mingled with the likes of Jesse James and Black Jack Ketchum. Take a journey to Elizabethtown where the resident ghost was a serial killer in life, and possibly in death. Enjoy a drink in Virginia City where the dusty miner sitting next to you may just be a ghost. Find out why you may want to avoid driving on Route 491, at least when you’re alone. The Southwest has haunts for you, from an old ghost town to the local corner store.

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'You kept my secret. I know yours now. That makes us even.'A claustrophobic psychological thriller that doesn't let go. 'A tense and twisting novel of dark secrets and dangerous desires.' - GraziaPAUL has been led into a life of crime by his schoolyard protector, Daniel. Now, at nineteen, he must bear witness against his friend to avoid imprisonment.LOUISA, who years ago fled from her own dark secrets, spends her days renovating the grounds of a crumbling Elizabethan mansion. A relationship develops between them, and Louisa starts to believe she can finally experience the happiness she had given up on; but it soon becomes apparent that neither of them can outrun their violent past . . .STONE MOTHERS, the new novel by Erin Kelly, is available to buy now!

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It may certainly be said that nothing can be assumed about Shakespeare: on the one hand, the Elizabethan poet seems to be thriving, with more editions, productions, studies, and translations appearing every year; on the other hand, in a time of global crisis and decolonization, the question of why Shakespeare is relevant at all is now more pertinent than ever. Shakespeare in Succession approaches the question of relevance by positioning Shakespeare as a participant as well as an object of adaptive translation, a labour that has always mediated between the foreign and the domestic, between the past and the present, between the arcane and the urgent. The volume situates Shakespeare on a continuum of transfers that can be understood from cultural, spatial, temporal, or linguistic points of view by studying how the text of Shakespeare is transformed into other languages and examining Shakespeare himself as a kind of translator of previous times, older stories, and prior theatrical and linguistic systems. Contending with the poet’s contemporary fate, Shakespeare in Succession asks how Shakespeare’s work can be offered to the multicultural present in which we live, and how we might relate our position to that of the iconic writer.

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A one-off collection of twelve Shakespearean-themed murder mysteries set in Elizabethan London.

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Theatre and empire explores the genesis of British national identity in the reign of King James VI and I. While devolution is currently decentralising Britain, this book examines how the idea of a 'united kingdom' was created in the first place. It does this by studying two things: the political language of the King's project to replace England, Scotland and Wales with a single kingdom of Great Britain and cultural representations of empire on the public and private stages. The book argues that between 1603 and 1625 a group of playwrights celebrated a new national consciousness in works as diverse as Middleton’s Hengist, King of Kent, Rowley’s The Birth of Merlin and Shakespeare’s Cymbeline. Specifically Jacobean interdisciplinary studies are few compared with Elizabethan and Caroline works, but the book attempts to redress the balance by offering a fresh appraisal of James Stuart’s reign.

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Miracles of Our Own Making is a historical overview of magic in the British Isles, from the ancient peoples of Britain to the rich and cosmopolitan landscape of contemporary paganism. We explore the beliefs of the Druids, the Anglo-Saxons and Vikings, the alchemy of the Elizabethan court and the witch trials. We encounter grimoires, ceremonial magic and the Romantic revival of arcane deities. The influential and well-known – the Golden Dawn, Wicca and figures such as Aleister Crowley – are considered alongside the everyday ‘cunning folk’ who formed the magical fabric of previous centuries. Ranging widely across literature, art, science and beyond, Liz Williams debunks many of the prevailing myths surrounding magical practice, past and present, while offering a rigorously researched and highly accessible account of what it means to be a pagan today.

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Chatham has had an association with the Royal Navy since Elizabethan times, moving to its current site in 1622. It provided the facilities to build, repair, maintain and supply ships. In the mid-nineteenth century, work began on expanding the dockyard into St Mary's Island, where three huge basins and five new docks were constructed, almost quadrupling its size, in order to support twentieth-century vessels. Work then commenced on a new home for Royal Navy seamen. The new barracks, HMS Pembroke, opened in 1903 providing accommodation for 5,000 officers and ratings for the following eighty years. The dockyard and barracks finally closed in 1984 and the Royal Navy bid farewell to Chatham. However, its legacy remains and its many historic dockyard and barrack buildings provide a warm welcome for residents and visitors alike.

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Shakespeare's Gardens is a highly illustrated, informative book about the gardens that William Shakespeare knew as a boy and tended as a man, published to coincide with the 400th anniversary of his death in April 2016. This anniversary will be the focus of literary celebration of the life and work throughout the English speaking world and beyond. The book will focus on the gardens that Shakespeare knew, including the five gardens in Stratford upon Avon in which he gardened and explored. From his birthplace in Henley Street, to his childhood playground at Mary Arden’s Farm, to his courting days at Anne Hathaway’s Cottage and his final home at New Place – where he created a garden to reflect his fame and wealth. Cared for by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, these gardens are continually evolving to reflect our ongoing knowledge of his life.The book will also explore the plants that Shakespeare knew and wrote about: their use in his work and the meanings that his audiences would have picked up on – including mulberries, roses, daffodils, pansies, herbs and a host of other flowers. More than four centuries after the playwright lived, whenever we think of thyme, violets or roses, we are reminded of a line from his work.Shakespeare’s Gardens brings together specially commissioned photography of the gardens with beautiful archive images of flowers, old herbals, and 16th century illustrations. It tells the story of Shakespeare’s journey – from glove maker’s son to national bard – and how he came to know so much about plants, flowers and gardens of the Elizabethan era.

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The fictional portrait of Woolf's close friend and lover Vita Sackville-West, the hero Orlando is a young nobleman in Elizabethan England, a dreamy and romantic youth who wakes up one day to find himself transformed, astonishingly, into a woman. Over the span of three centuries, Orlando will fall in love many times and rub shoulders with the great artists and writersand observe how differently history treats men than women. Bold and tender, Orlando is a truly multi-faceted work that has been hailed as a satire of biography, a queer classic, and a loving portrait of an irrepressible spirit.

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The first comprehensive dictionary of everyone of importance in the creation of English architecture during the Elizabethan and Jacobean ages This long-awaited work of scholarship provides a comprehensive dictionary of everyone of importance in the creation of English architecture in the Elizabethan and Jacobean ages. With characteristically deft prose, Mark Girouard draws on a lifetime of experience in the study of architectural history to assess the impact of some six hundred master craftsmen, surveyors, designers and patrons at work between 1540 and 1640. Surveying a period not covered by other dictionaries, this book is a key text for students and scholars of British architecture and its allied arts between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Mark Girouard’s lively comments and felicitous style also make it an enjoyable browse for anyone interested in the magnificent buildings that formed the background to the music of Dowland, Wilbye and Byrd; the fascinating political intrigues of the Tudor court; and the writings of Sidney, Shakespeare, Donne, Campion and Jonson.Distributed for the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art

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The culminating drama of the Wars of the Roses, Henry VI Part Three plays out the final breakdown of political and family affiliations. This Penguin Shakespeare edition is edited by Norman Sanders with an introduction by Gillian Day.'There, take the crown, and with the crown my curse'Threatened by the Duke of York, King Henry makes a deal to disinherit his own son and make the Duke his heir. Queen Margaret is so angered by her husband's weakness that she declares war on the House of York. As conflict rages throughout England, political and family ties break down with tragic consequences. Can the vulnerable King hold out against the growing menace of the Duke's son, the future Richard III, to keep his throne - and his life?This book includes a general introduction to Shakespeare's life and the Elizabethan theatre, a separate introduction to Henry VI, Part III, a chronology, suggestions for further reading, an essay by Rebecca Brown discussing performance options on both stage and screen, and a commentary. William Shakespeare was born some time in late April 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon and died in 1616. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. Stanley Wells is Emeritus Professor of the University of Birmingham and Honorary President of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.

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'Intricate and crisp, witty and solemn: a book with special and dangerous properties' Hilary Mantel on Rotherweird'Baroque, Byzantine and beautiful - not to mention bold' - M.R. Carey on RotherweirdWELCOME BACK TO ROTHERWEIRD For four hundred years, the town of Rotherweird has stood alone, made independent from the rest of England to protect a deadly secret. But someone is playing a very long game. An intricate plot, centuries in the making, is on the move. Everything points to one objective - the resurrection of Rotherweird's dark Elizabethan past - and to one date: the Winter Equinox. Wynter is coming . . .

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A Short History of Early Modern England presents the historical and cultural information necessary for a richer understanding of English Renaissance literature. Written in a clear and accessible style for an undergraduate level audience Gives an overview of the period’s history as well as an understanding of the historiographic issues Explores key historical and literary events, from the Wars of the Roses to the publication of John Milton’s Paradise Regained Features in depth explanations of key terms and concepts, such as absolutism and the Elizabethan Settlement

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An authoritative, hands-on guide through the practical challenges involved in performing Shakespeare. Drawing on a lifetime's experience of playing Shakespearean roles, Oliver Ford Davies offers practical advice to actors, directors and drama students on a wide variety of scenes, characters, speeches and individual lines from almost every one of the plays. The three core sections of Performing Shakespeare take us through the whole process of Preparation, Rehearsal and Performance, preceded by discussions of the Elizabethan actor and Shakespeare's language. Also included are revealing interviews with other notable Shakespearean actors including Judi Dench, Ian McKellen, Harriet Walter, Simon Russell Beale and Juliet Stevenson. 'An invaluable guide to those who act and to all those who wish to gain deeper insights into the performance of Shakespeare's plays' Stanley Wells from his Foreword

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Exam board: Pearson EdexcelLevel: GCSE (9-1)Subject: HistoryFirst teaching: September 2016First exams: Summer 2018Target success in Pearson Edexcel GCSE (9-1) History with this proven formula for effective, structured revision.Key content coverage is combined with exam-style questions, revision tasks and practical tips to create a revision guide that students can rely on to review, strengthen and test their knowledge.With My Revision Notes every student can:> Plan and manage a successful revision programme using the topic-by-topic planner> Enjoy an interactive approach to revision, with clear topic summaries that consolidate knowledge and related activities that put the content into context> Build, practise and enhance exam skills by progressing through activities set at different levels> Improve exam technique through exam-style questions and sample answers with commentary> Get exam ready with extra quick quizzes and answers to the activities available onlineThis revision guide covers the following options:> Medicine in Britain c1250-present and The British sector of the Western Front, 1914-18> Early Elizabethan England, 1558-88> Superpower relations and the Cold War, 1941-91> Weimar and Nazi Germany, 1918-39

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Best of 2000 AD is a landmark series from the cult comic, bursting with our greatest stories for a new generation of readers. Every Best of 2000 AD contains a mix of modern classics and gems from the vault. In each edition you'll find an explosive new Judge Dredd adventure, fresh essays by prominent popular culture writers, a graphic novel-length feature presentation by global legends and a vintage Dredd case. In this volume: When Judge Dredd investigates a potential whistleblower, it’s hard to avoid paranoia when information is this Mega-City Confidential; from medieval Prague to the streets of Elizabethan London, Kek-W and John Burns sound the call to battle extra-dimensional Wurms and join The Order; a rolling stone gathers no mousse as Pete Milligan and Jamie Hewlett tangle you in Hewligan’s Haircut, a shear reality-warping victory roll that’s just the tonic; quake to the Cry of the Werewolf with an all-time Dredd classic by Alan Grant and Steve Dillon. Boasting brand new covers from an all-star line-up of artists including Marguerite Sauvage (Archie) and Glyn Dillon (The Batman) with designer Tom Muller (X-Men), Best of 2000 AD is the essential gateway into the Galaxy’s Greatest Comic.

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Full of the warmth and excitement of growing up in the 1950s, awakening nostalgia for times that seemed cosy and carefree with families at last enjoying peacetime, this book is packed with the experience of school days, playtime, holidays, toys, games, clubs and hobbies conjuring up the genuine atmosphere of a bygone era. As the decade progressed, rationing ended and children’s pocket money was spent on goodies like Chocstix, Spangles, Wagon Wheels and Fry’s Five Boys. Television brought Bill and Ben, The Adventures of Robin Hood and, for teenagers, The Six-Five Special, along with coffee bars and rock ‘n’ roll. This book opens a window on an exciting period of optimism, when anything seemed possible, described by the children and teenagers who experienced it. Liverpool’s traditional sense of community, strengthened by the war years, provided a secure background from which children and teenagers could welcome a second Elizabethan era.

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We''ve got GCSE Edexcel History covered! This superb Revision Guide clearly explains the most popular Depth Study, Period Study and Thematic Study options, drawn from a range of historical eras in Britain, Europe and the wider world. Perfect for helping students develop their knowledge and understanding of history.There''s also plenty of top advice on the skills needed for each section of the exam, as well as knowledge organisers and online quizzes to help students test their knowledge of different topics. We''ve even thrown in a free online edition of the whole book - don''t say we never spoil you!The topics covered in this Revision Guide are:-Medicine in Britain c. 1250-present-The British Sector of the Western Front 1914-1918-The American West c. 1835-c.1895-The Cold War 1941-1991-Early Elizabethan England 1558-1588-Weimar and Nazi Germany 1918-1936

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Blending fact with fiction and written in diary form, this unique biography of Shakespeare captures his life as never before, from his views on daily events to vivid impressions of the Elizabethan era and his role within such a world. Delightfully whimsical, Wearing's distinctive life story provides possible answers to such questions as: What was Shakespeare thinking when he wrote Hamlet? What did he and Ben Jonson talk about when they were having a drink together? Incorporates lines and fragments from Shakespeare's plays and poems.

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A comprehensive analysis of the life of William Camden (1581-1623), historian, herald, and leading literary figure of the Elizabethan period and of the context in which he lived. William Camden [1551-1623] was one of the most notable historians of the Elizabethan period; his works include Britannia the first description of Britain county by county. A herald by profession, he moved in the literary and political circles of London in an age when history and the study of the past interacted with present politics, and was well-connected with many leading figures of the time; his involvement with the precursor of what is now the Society of Antiquaries of London is of especial importance. This book provides the first major analytical biography of Camden's life and career since that of Thomas Smith in 1691. It offers a comprehensive analysis of Camden's life and of the context in which he lived, including in its great scope a wide range of aspects of English and European learned culture during the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries; and examines the nature of his extraordinary impact on writers both of his own and later generations. WYMAN H. HERENDEEN is Professor and Department Chair in the Department of English at the University of Houston, Texas.

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Longford Castle is a fine Elizabethan country house, home to a world-class collection of art built up in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries by the Bouverie family and still owned today by their descendants. Until now, it has been relatively little known amongst the pantheon of English country houses. This book, richly illustrated and based on extensive scholarly research into the family archive, tells a comprehensive story of the collectors who amassed these treasures. It explores the acquisition and commission of works of art from Holbein’s Erasmus and The Ambassadors, to exquisite landscapes by Claude and Poussin, and family portraits by Thomas Gainsborough and Sir Joshua Reynolds. It explores how Longford, an unusual triangular-shaped castle that inspired Sir Philip Sidney’s Arcadia and Disney’s The Princess Diaries, was decorated and furnished to house these works of fine art, and how the Bouverie family patronised the best craftsmen and furniture makers of the day. The book brings the story up to the present day, with an introduction and conclusion by the current owner, the 9th Earl of Radnor, himself a keen collector of art, to celebrate this remarkable house and collection in the tercentenary year of its purchase by the Bouverie family.

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Dog lovers can pamper their favourite pooch with this inspiring collection of cute canine accessories. There are plenty of ideas here for making fun and functional gear: from leashes, toys, collars, cushions, and dining mats to storage baskets, sunscreen caps, carrier bags, and even an Elizabethan cone collar. Step-by-step photos and clear instructions make these projects so easy to follow, it’s a walk in the park! Inside Fun Accessories to Sew for Your Dog 23 pet-friendly DIY projects Cool designs for attractive, practical dog gear. Step-by-step photos make each project easy to follow plus advice on stitching, measurement lists, and tips on tools and materials.

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The Golden Treasury is one of the most loved anthologies of English poetry ever published. The book was meticulously compiled by poet and scholar Francis Turner Palgrave, in collaboration with Alfred Tennyson, who was then poet laureate.It is arranged chronologically in four books which each celebrate a different era in the evolution of English poetry, from Elizabethan to the 19th century. All the greats are here, including Shakespeare and Milton, Marvell and Pope, Wordsworth and Keats. First published in 1861, it became the standard anthology for over 100 years.This Macmillan Collector’s Library edition includes a foreword by Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy, and is published to mark Macmillan’s 175th anniversary.

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Tired of the Common F-word? Give your Foul Language a Literary Twist! Some occasions call for a tart-tongued insult, but why resort to commonplace modern-day words? If you must be offensive, hearken back to the Elizabethan days for more salacious and outrageous word choices. Impress your friends with your mastery of lewd iambic pentameter, and vanquish your enemies with the power of the bard. After all, a toad-spotted maggot by any other name would be as pestilent . . . Mix and match to come up with your own raucous rebuffs, including:Thou Foul-Reeking Lily-Livered Codpiece!Thou Ruttish Rump-Fed Pignut!Thou Beslubbering Cockeyed Canker-blossom! And a multitude of other bawdy combinations!

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In this magisterial volume, first published in 1932, Eliot gathered his choice of the miscellaneous reviews and literary essays he had written since 1917 when he became assistant editor of The Egoist. In his preface to the third edition in 1951 he wrote: 'For myself this book is a kind of historical record of my interests and opinions.' The text includes some of his most important criticism, especially parts of The Sacred Wood, Homage to John Dryden, the essays on Elizabethan and Jacobean dramatists, For Lancelot Andrewes and Essays Ancient and Modern.

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The dramatic trilogy has been flourishing for some time now in new works and revivals of older works by American, British, and European playwrights. This book analyzes recent American works by Caucasian, African American, Asian American, and Hispanic American men and women. There are five chapters beginning with Opposing Families (trilogies of, e.g., Lanford Wilson, Foote, Machado, and McCraney are examined). Carson, Rabe, and McLaughlin are among those in the Classical Reimaginings chapter while Coen, Berc, and Wolfe constitute the Medieval Reimaginings chapter. Van Itallie, Havis, Rapp, and Hwang, among others, create New Forms. LaBute, Fierstein, and Nelson, among others, create New Selves. The concluding chapter is devoted to Ruhl's Passion Play, which spans 400 years of theatre-creating from Elizabethan England to Hitler's Germany to the Reagan era in America.

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A gorgeous clothbound edition of Woolf's fantastical and enchanting novel, designed by the acclaimed Coralie-Bickford Smith. Orlando has always been an outsider...His longing for passion, adventure and fulfilment takes him out of his own time. Chasing a dream through the centuries, he bounds from Elizabethan England and imperial Turkey to the modern world. Will he find happiness with the exotic Russian Princess Sasha? Or is the dashing explorer Shelmerdine the ideal man? And what form will Orlando take on the journey - a nobleman, traveller, writer? Man or... woman?A wry commentary on gender and history, Orlando is also, in Woolf's own words, a light-hearted 'writer's holiday' which delights in ambiguity and capriciousness. This clothbound Penguin edition is edited by Brenda Lyons with an introduction and notes by Sandra M. Gilbert. 'I read this book and believed it was a hallucinogenic, interactive biography of my own life and future'Tilda Swinton

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A major new edition of Thomas Kyd's The Spanish Tragedy,an outstanding landmark of Elizabethan drama. In its time, it quickly became a box office success and probably inspired Shakespeare to write Hamlet, as it contains a ghost, murders that demand revenge and a hero that hesitates and contemplates suicide. As a revenge tragedy, it set up the salient features of a dramatic genre that would last decades. Its hero, the aged Marshall of Spain Hieronimo, whose son is murdered at night, soon transcended the play and became the standard stage representation of grief, rhetorical passion and madness. Hieronimo's main antagonist is one of the first Machiavellian characters of English drama. This edition explores the play in relation to its historical context and contemporary Iberian dynastic policy. It also relates the play, as a literary artefact, to other artistic manifestations of the European Renaissance and offers a fresh assessment of the play's stage history. For the first time in the play's textual history, this edition presents an integrated text inviting a reading of the play as it was published both in 1592 and in 1602.

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From the Royal Shakespeare Company – a modern, definitive edition of Shakespeare’s great drama of ambition, desire and guilt. With an expert introduction by Sir Jonathan Bate, this unique edition presents a historical overview of Macbeth in performance, takes a detailed look at specific productions, and recommends film versions. Included in this edition are three interviews with leading directors – Rupert Goold, Gregory Doran and Trevor Nunn – providing an illuminating insight into the extraordinary variety of interpretations that are possible. This edition also includes an essay on Shakespeare’s career and Elizabethan theatre, and enables the reader to understand the play as it was originally intended – as living theatre to be enjoyed and performed. Ideal for students, theatre-goers, actors and general readers, the RSC Shakespeare editions offer a fresh, accessible and contemporary approach to reading and rediscovering Shakespeare’s works for the twenty-first century.

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From the Royal Shakespeare Company – a modern, definitive edition of Shakespeare's anarchic comedy. With an expert introduction by Sir Jonathan Bate, this unique edition presents a historical overview of The Comedy of Errors in performance, takes a detailed look at specific productions, and recommends film versions. Included in this edition are interviews with three leading directors – Paul Hunter, Nancy Meckler and Tim Supple – providing an illuminating insight into the extraordinary variety of interpretations that are possible. This edition also includes an essay on Shakespeare’s career and Elizabethan theatre, and enables the reader to understand the play as it was originally intended – as living theatre to be enjoyed and performed. Ideal for students, theatre-goers, actors and general readers, the RSC Shakespeare editions offer a fresh, accessible and contemporary approach to reading and rediscovering Shakespeare’s works for the twenty-first century.

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The locations of Shakespeare’s plays range from Greece, Turkey and Syria to England, and they range in time from 1000 BC to the early Tudor age. He never set a play explicitly in Elizabethan London, which he and his audience inhabited, but always in places remote in space or time. How much did he – and his contemporaries – know about the foreign cities where the plays took place? What expectations did an audience have if the curtain rose on a drama which claimed to take place in Verona, Elsinore, Alexandria or ancient Troy? This fully illustrated book explores these questions, surveying Shakespeare’s world through contemporary maps, geographical texts, paintings and drawings. The results are intriguing and sometimes surprising. Why should Love’s Labour’s Lost be set in the Pyrenean kingdom of Navarre? Was the Forest of Arden really in Warwickshire? Why do two utterly different plays like The Comedy of Errors and Pericles focus strongly on ancient Ephesus? Where was Illyria? Did the Merry Wives have to live in Windsor? Why did Shakespeare sometimes shift the settings of the plays from those he found in his literary sources? It has always been easy to say that wherever the plays are set, Shakespeare was really writing about human psychology and human nature, and that the settings are irrelevant. This book takes a different view, showing that many of his locations may have had resonances which an Elizabethan audience would pick up and understand, and it shows how significant the geographical and historical background of the plays could be.

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This attractive and cleverly structured guide gives walkers the ten best walks through the fascinating historic landscapes of the Yorkshire Dales National Park in a popular pocketable format. With clear information, an overview and introduction for each walk, expertly written numbered directions, large scale Ordnance Survey maps, superb eye-grabbing panoramic photographs, and interpretation of points of interest along the way, these guides set a new standard in clarity and ease-of-use. Featured walks include: Victoria Cave - Mesolithic, Ilkley Moor - Bronze Age, Grassington - Iron Age, Bainbridge - Roman, Burnsall - Norse, Fountains Abbey - Medieval, Bolton Castle - Elizabethan, The Brontes - Victorian , Ribblehead - Industrial Revolutionand Gunnerside - underground wealth

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Discover Virginia Woolf’s informative and erudite critical essays on some of the key novelists and dramatists of the canon – from the ancient Greeks to Jane Austen and beyond.Virginia Woolf read, and wrote, as an outsider, denied the educational privileges of her male contemporaries. She was perhaps better able, then, to address a 'common reader' in this wide-ranging collection of essays. With all the imagination and gaiety that are the stamp of her genius, she turns from medieval England to tsarist Russia, and subjects Elizabethan playwrights, Victorian novelists and modern essayists to her wise, acute and entertaining scrutiny.Essays on Jane Austen, George Eliot, Nancy Mitford, Joseph Conrad, Michel de Montaigne, Daniel Defoe and many others.

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William Shakespeare's comedy Love's Labours Lost is edited with an introduction by John Kerrigan in Penguin Shakespeare.'What fool is not so wiseTo lose an oath to win a paradise?'Ferdinand, King of Navarre and his lords Berowne, Dumaine, and Longaville agree to form an austere academy, taking a solemn to have no contact with women for three years. But when the Princess of neighbouring France arrives with her female attendants, their pledge is quickly placed under strain. Soon all are smitten and confusion abounds, as each struggles to secretly declare his love in this comedy of deception, desire and mistaken identity.This book contains a general introduction to Shakespeare's life and Elizabethan theatre, a separate introduction to Love's Labours Lost, a chronology, suggestions for further reading, an essay discussing performance options on both stage and screen, and a commentary.If you enjoyed Love's Labours Lost, you might like The Merry Wives of Windsor, also available in Penguin Shakespeare.'The most beautiful of Shakespeare's comedies'Kenneth Branagh

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The Elizabethan age was a tumultuous time, when long-cherished certainties were crumbling and life was exhilaratingly uncertain. Shakespeare's Restless World uncovers the extraordinary stories behind twenty objects from the period to re-create an age at once distant and yet surprisingly familiar. From knife crime to belief in witches, religious battles to the horizons of the New World, Neil MacGregor brings the past to life in a fresh, unexpected portrait of a dangerous and dynamic era.'Fascinating ... filled with anecdotes and insights, eerie, funny, poignant and grotesque ... another brilliant vindication of MacGregor's understanding of physical objects to enter deep into our fore­fathers' mental and spiritual world' Christopher Hart, Sunday Times'Enjoyable and intriguing, an absorbing evocation ... he draws us into the minds of the Elizabethan and Jacobean audience. Next time you see one of the plays reading this book will make those first audiences seem real to you' Peter Lewis, Daily Mail'How gripping are these tales from a lost world. And what a world Shakespeare's was - adventurous, melancholy, rich and plagued by beggary, courteous and quarrelsome, sceptical and credulous' Daily Telegraph 'Elegant, informative ... provides stimulating insights' Anne Somerset, Spectator

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A deeply researched, analytically rich, and vivid account of England's early maritime empire Drawing on a wealth of understudied sources, historian Eleanor Hubbard explores the labor conflicts behind the rise of the English maritime empire. Freewheeling Elizabethan privateering attracted thousands of young men to the sea, where they acquired valuable skills and a reputation for ruthlessness. Peace in 1603 forced these predatory seamen to adapt to a radically changed world, one in which they were expected to risk their lives for merchants' gain, not plunder. Merchant trading companies expected sailors to relinquish their unruly ways and to help convince overseas rulers and trading partners that the English were a courteous and trustworthy "nation." Some sailors rebelled, becoming pirates and renegades; others demanded and often received concessions and shares in new trading opportunities. Treated gently by a state that was anxious to promote seafaring in order to man the navy, these determined sailors helped to keep the sea a viable and attractive trade for Englishmen.

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Rochester's position on the River Medway, near where it joins the Thames, has meant that it has played an important historical role for centuries. Beyond its Norman castle and cathedral and many ancient buildings, the town is surrounded by fortifications as it was a potential target for invaders, although in 1667 the Dutch were able to raid Rochester and set fire to a large number of English naval ships. The historic character of Rochester remains today with its annual Sweeps Festival and two festivals a year celebrating Dickens, who had lived nearby. The town has the only museum in the country celebrating the Huguenots.AZ of Rochester reveals the history behind the town, its streets and buildings, businesses and the people connected with it. Alongside the famous historical connections are unusual characters, tucked-away places and unique events that are less well known. Readers will discover tales of a Victorian botanical illustrator, a Saxon saint and a celebrated Elizabethan Clerk o

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The significance of the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book to our musical canon is well known; the remarkable story of its copyist and compiler, Francis Tregian, less so. Born into Cornish Catholic nobility and plumb into the choppy waters of the Elizabethan Age, he must rely on his surpassing skill as a musician to survive.In this Prix des Libraires (Booksellers Prize) winning novel, Anne Cuneo deftly recreates the musician’s journey across Renaissance Europe, which sees him befriending Shakespeare, swapping scores with William Byrd and Monteverdi, and playing in the court of Henri IV of France.The result is as gripping as it is authentic: an epic, transcontinental choreography in which Europe’s monarchs tussle with pretenders to their thrones, and ordinary people steer between allegiances to God, nation and family.

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From the Royal Shakespeare Company – a modern, definitive edition of Shakespeare's epic retelling of the Wars of the Roses. With an expert introduction by Sir Jonathan Bate, this unique edition presents a historical overview of Henry VI in performance, takes a detailed look at specific productions, and recommends film versions. Included in this edition are interviews with two leading directors and a designer - Edward Hal and Michael Boyd, and Tom Piper – providing an illuminating insight into the extraordinary variety of interpretations that are possible. This edition also includes an essay on Shakespeare’s career and Elizabethan theatre, and enables the reader to understand the play as it was originally intended – as living theatre to be enjoyed and performed. Ideal for students, theatre-goers, actors and general readers, the RSC Shakespeare editions offer a fresh, accessible and contemporary approach to reading and rediscovering Shakespeare’s works for the twenty-first century.

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This extraordinary debut heralds the arrival of a major new talent.In After You Were, I Am, charged moments from history collide with our own godless modern world. The book's three sections ingenious rewritings of canonical prayers, dramatic monologues from the Pendle witch trials of 1612, and the divine tragedy of the Elizabethan magus John Dee obsess over individual human characters and how our past informs (and informs on) our present. Ralphs's style is utterly distinctive; she is a modern metaphysical, tapping into a haunting, era-spanning utterance enlivened by the electric pulse of wordplay and imaginative conceit. This is poetry that in comprehending the past manages to make of it something utterly original and contemporary.

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Discover the new Doctor Who classics. When the entire universe is at stake, three different Doctors will unite to save it. The Tenth Doctor is hunting shape-shifting Zygons in Elizabethan England. The Eleventh is investigating a rift in space-time in the present day. And one other – the man they used to be but never speak of – is fighting the Daleks in the darkest days of the Time War. Driven by demons and despair, this battle-scarred Doctor is set to take a devastating decision that will threaten the survival of the entire universe… a decision that not even a Time Lord can take alone. On this day, the Doctor’s different incarnations will come together to save the Earth… to save the universe… and to save his soul.

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