![]() Shakespeare is a titillating glimpse into the influences on “the Bard”. Did Shakespeare have an affair with Emilia Lanier? Did he die an alcoholic? Wood colourfully poses such questions, though too many remain unanswered he cheerfully admits that he's no Shakespeare scholar, but a popular historian who has enthusiastically placed Shakespeare back into the extraordinarily fertile world that produced him. Wood too often has to "enter the realm of diverting speculation rather than that of verifiable historical fact". This is well-trodden ground, but Wood tells the story with relish and an historian's eye for detail, dismissing Bardolatry in favour of a "tale of one man's life, lived through a time of revolution-a time when not only England, but the larger world beyond, would go through momentous changes."įrom Shakespeare's early days in Warwickshire to the sophisticated world of theatrical life and political skulduggery in London, Wood makes few claims to new discoveries, but offers a refreshingly global understanding of what drove Shakespeare and his creativity, from his Catholic origins to the Black Londoners that he met every day. Having already gone In Search of England and pursued the history of the Conquistadors in his recent acclaimed series, Wood has now taken on The Bard in the book to accompany his latest TV series. There can be few more appropriate writers and TV presenters to go In Search of Shakespeare than Michael Wood. ![]() This is well-trodden ground, but Wood tells the story with relish and an historian's eye for detail, dismissing Bardolatry in favour of a "tale of one man's life, lived through a time of revolution-a time when not only England, but the larger world beyond, would go through momentous changes." From Shakespeare's early days in Warwickshire to the sophisticated world of theatrical life and political skulduggery in London, Wood makes few claims to new discoveries, but offers a refreshingly global understanding of what drove Shakespeare and his creativity, from his Catholic origins to the Black Londoners that he met every day. In this absorbing historical detective story, the acclaimed broadcaster and historian Michael Wood takes a fresh approach to Shakespeare's life, brilliantly recreating the turbulent times through which the poet lived- the age of the Reformation, the Spanish Armada, the Gunpowder Plot and the colonization of the Americas.Drawing on an extensive range of sources, Michael Wood takes us back into Elizabethan England to reveal a man who is the product of his time -a period of tremendous upheaval that straddled the medieval and modern worlds.Using a wealth of unexplored archive evidence the author vividly conjures up the neighbourhoods of the Elizabethan London where Shakespeare lived and worked during his glittering career.Full of fresh insights and fascinating new discoveries, this book presents us with a Shakespeare for the twenty-first century- a man of the theatre, a thinking artist, playful and cunning who held up a mirror to hi sage, but who was also, as his friend Ben Jonson said, 'not of an age, but for all time'. In a positive review, Robert Christgau, in The Village Voice, praises Darnell for his consistency and calls the album a typically elegant and literate dance album in which mortality impinges attractively.Almost 400 years after his death, William Shakespeare is still acclaimed as the world's greatest writer, and yet the man himself remains shrouded in mystery. He describes Darnell as too clever for his own good, but does single out "Dancin' at the Bains Douches" for setting a standard that the surrounding material fails to meet, although "Agony.Ecstasy" and "Call It a Day" are close runners-up. He wrote that the band was still capable of brilliant moments, but that the album lacked the focused direction of prior efforts like Fresh Fruit in Foreign Places and the group's tour de force, Wise Guy. In a negative review, AllMusic's Vince Ripol described the group as artistically stranded. I, Too, Have Seen the Woods received mixed reviews from critics. Reception Professional ratings Review scores
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