A beautiful read. In "1599", Shapiro tackles one year in the history of the citizens of London. It also happens to be the year William Shakespeare wrote "Henry V", "As You Like It", and "Julius Caesar", and began work on "Hamlet".

Despite the book's title, "1599" spreads its time equally between Elizabeth and her citizens, and the Bard himself. As Shapiro openly states, we know so little about what exactly led Shakespeare to write his plays, and about specific events in his life, that anything is by necessity conjecture - but he'd still rather stick to what is probable, not just possible. As such, he covers the complex political and social landscape brought about by Elizabeth and Essex, the Irish and the Spaniards, the changes in theatregoers and theatre laws, and other concerns that hit London and Stratford. He posits areas and concerns that may have affected Shakespeare as he wrote four such monumental works, while also seeking to explain the mindset of an Elizabethan during this shifting era.

What Shapiro has written is a book that first of all, educates about the living, breathing public mass of Londoners (people who, after all, were far more complex than any film stereotype); second, negates many of the needless conjectures determined to give every event in Shakespeare's plays some needlessly grandiose or tragic origin (all of which seek to undermine the fact that he was writing for a specific theatre and crowd, and working as a creative, not just working through some Freudian issues); and third, most importantly, sees Shakespeare as a human. We can never know what it was like to be such a genius during an era when history, linguistics, and politics rose up like never before. But we can ask questions about Shakespeare's personal stake in the theatre, about his reactions to other literary and political movements, about his reasons for taking age-old stories, myths, and plays, and reworking them into feats of ever-growing depth. A very enjoyable read, although I couldn't help wishing Shapiro could write a volume for every year of Shakespeare's professional life. ( )

In 1599 Shakespeare was instrumental in building The Globe theater, and wrote several of his better-known plays: Henry V, As You Like It, Julius Caesar, and Hamlet. This was also a year of war, unrest, and uncertainty in England. This book sets Shakespear’s work against that backdrop, describing in detail the political situation in England and the cultural impact of Queen Elizabeth’s reign, which would soon be at an end. Shakespeare’s plays helped the audience understand present day events by telling the stories of long-dead figures; sometimes he also got away with criticism and satire.

The book is equal parts history and biography, a combination that worked for me. It was also interesting to read about those whose work influenced Shakespeare, although I admit I was easily lost when the author took deeper dives into Shakespeare’s writings and those of his contemporaries. But that’s probably just me. ( )

Among the many astounding things herein are, that it is possible to know so much about what Shakespeare was doing in 1599, the amount of Elizabethan history and then-current events reflected in the plays of 1599 that were never even hinted at when I was taught them, the many literary influences acting on Shakespeare and his ingenious response to them, and that the versions of "Hamlet" that I have read or seen performed may have been cobbled together from misremembered variant forms.
I found this book when Sophie Roell listed the best nonfiction of the past quarter century at the great website, fivebooks.com/. ( )

A word you often hear used in reviews of academic works like “A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare” is accessibility. And that makes sense since these books dealing with subjects and issues that probably interest a very small demographic of the reading public need an audience for survival. This book is one of the least accessible books on Shakespeare I’ve ever read, and I’ve read many. I am a retired high school English teacher who taught Shakespeare for 40 years. I taught “Julius Caesar” and “Romeo and Juliet” for most of those years, and even I had a hard time making it through this book. In fact, at the epilogue, I quit. What those interested in Shakespeare need to know and accept is we know little to nothing about the man. In fact, in the excellent video “Shakespeare in the Classroom” (produced by the cast of the Academy Award winning film “Shakespeare in Love”), a list of five items is given as the only information we have on the bard: his baptismal date, his death date, the birth of his children, and a mention of Shakespeare in a real estate transaction. That’s it. So everything else that authors write about is speculation. That’s why in this book, you read phrases like, “Shakespeare might have…..” or “Shakespeare could have…..” Much of this book is given to the plays themselves and their impact on society at the time. Additionally, there is much given to the threat of war with Ireland, and Queen Elizabeth’s strained relationship with Essex, far removed from research on Shakespeare or his plays. I really struggled with this book, so I imagine readers who haven’t spent much time with Shakespeare since high school will most likely bail on it early on. True scholars of the bard are most likely the only audience for “A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare.” ( )

Entertaining and educational! I thought I knew a lot about Shakespeare already but this book taught me so much more. I really enjoyed learning some of the history of Elizabethan England. ( )