"A gripping, funny, joyful account of how the books you read shape your own life in surprising and profound ways. Bookworms know what scholars of literature are trained to forget: that when they devour a work of literary fiction, whatever else they may be doing, they are reading about themselves. Read Shakespeare, and you become Cleopatra, Hamlet, or Bottom. Or at the very least, you experience the plays as if you are in a small room alone with them,...

"This spirited retelling brings us Shakespeare's cast of immortal characters with excerpts from the original dialogue told in a way that young listeners can grasp. This recording will nurture a passion for Shakespeare and an understanding of why these people and historical events still shape our world today."--Publisher's website

"Two rival queens. History's greatest playwright. And a deadly plot for the crown. London, 1600. With no legitimate heir to Queen Elizabeth's throne, and no clear successor with her modern vision of a civilization that thrives in peace and diversity, England is in a supremely perilous moment. Elizabeth's foes understand the power of a poet's voice to shape popular opinion, and force esteemed playwright William Shakespeare to write a script detailing...

Describes London during Shakespeare's time, Elizabethan theater, how plays were produced, music of the time, where Shakespeare got his plots, and how he transformed them.