Publisher's Synopsis
Unlike any other book on Shakespeare, this richly detailed biography takes a single year and from the events of those twelve months illuminates the whole of the dramatist's creative life. During 1599, William Shakespeare broke through to a new level, writing four of his greatest plays: Henry V, Julius Caesar, As You Like It, and Hamlet. In each play he made a significant dramatic advance and staked out new territory. He also oversaw the building of the Globe Theater, settled into living in Southwark, and shared with his countrymen the extraordinary events of this remarkable year: an English invasion of Ireland, the terrifying threat of a Spanish invasion, and the creation of the famed East India Company.
