Katherine Rundell has a wonderfully immersive approach to storytelling, conveying complex historical information in a way that is utterly engrossing and frequently amusing.
Super-Infinite is a fabulous love letter to one of the world's finest poets, John Donne, offering keen insights into his remarkable life, work, and his relevance to readers today.
**A Sunday Times top ten bestseller** **Shortlisted for the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award 2023** **Shortlisted for the Duff Cooper Prize for Non-Fiction 2023** **Shortlisted for the Slightly Foxed First Biography Prize 2023**
'Masterly.' Observer 'Wonderful, joyous.' Maggie O'Farrell 'Frankly brilliant.' Sunday Times 'Unmissable.' Simon Jenkins 'Every page sparkles.' Claire Tomalin 'A triumph.' Matt Haig 'Stylish, scholarly and gripping.' Rose Tremain
John Donne lived myriad lives. Sometime religious outsider and social disaster, sometime celebrity preacher and establishment darling, Donne was incapable of being just one thing.
He was a scholar of law, a sea adventurer, an MP,…
Paul Menzer's book achieves something truly rare in the realm of Shakespeare's biography: he has produced a page-turner that is incredibly difficult to put down.
Written in a witty, engaging style, the book provides fascinating detail about Shakespeare's life and work and appeals to both Shakespeare specialists and a broader readership.
This engaging and fresh biography begins by examining how Shakespeare's life turns into myth so comfortably as to seduce even the most sceptical scholar. The early departure, the late return. Public success, private loss. A twilight of plays about family reunions, a death at home in the biggest house in town, the one he walked by as a schoolboy and eyed with envy, or at least ambition. Shakespeare led an orbital life, everything returned to where it began. He even had the dramatic good sense to die on his birthday.
One of the appealing dynamics of the Shakespeare myth is…
Chris Laoutaris is a master of producing an engrossing narrative underpinned by meticulous research.
Shakespeare's Book paints vivid pictures of the playing and printing scene in early modern London through evocative prose. It is a superb read for a general audience but also offers more scholarly inclined readers the opportunity to go down the many academic rabbit holes underpinning this fine study.
A fascinating book exploring the early modern authors who helped to shape Shakespeare’s beloved plays.
Shakespeare’s plays have influenced generations of writers, but who were the early modern playwrights who influenced him? Using the latest techniques in textual analysis Shakespeare's borrowed feathers offers a fresh look at William Shakespeare and reveals the influence of a community of playwrights that shaped his work. This compelling book argues that we need to see early modern drama as a communal enterprise, with playwrights borrowing from and adapting one another's work.
From John Lyly's wit to the collaborative genius of John Fletcher, to Christopher Marlowe and Ben Jonson, Shakespeare's borrowed feathers offers fresh insights into Shakespeare’s artistic development and shows us new ways of looking at the masterpieces that have enchanted audiences for centuries.
