Elizabethan English

This book, also available in paperback direct from Troubador.co.uk, aims to introduce students (including those with little or no prior experience of the field) to the worlds of Shakespeare and his theatre revealed in ‘Hamlet’. It begins by ‘Approaching Shakespeare’ as utterly a man of the theatre, a professional actor before he was a playwright and a resident dramatist who knew intimately the actors for whom he wrote. It continues by ‘Approaching Hamlet’ in that light, and as a revenge tragedy deliberately overloaded with complications. The middle chapters look in detail at the...

An exciting and authoritative study guide to Richard II in its theatrical, cultural and political contexts. Professor Hattaway's study places Richard II within the contexts of Shakespeare's life and of the strenuous political debates that were taking place at the end of the reign of Elizabeth I. It offers a commentary upon the unfolding action of the play, stressing possible alternative readings of the text, and noting how directors have made particular decisions about these. It ends with two shorter linked chapters on aspects of the play's critical traditions and on selected stage ...

William Shakespeare is just eighteen when he marries Anne Hathaway, eight years his senior. Anne, who bears a son soon after the marriage, is plain and not particularly bright – but her love for Will is undeniable. Talented and fiercely ambitious, Will’s scintillating genius soon makes him the toast of Elizabethan London. While he basks in the flattery his great reputation affords him, Anne lives a lonely life in Stratford, far away from the glittering world of her husband. This highly evocative account of the life of the young William Shakespeare begins the trilogy which continues with...

Random House presents the audiobook edition of Rival Queens by Kate Williams. Elizabeth and Mary: cousins, rivals, queens. They loved each other, they hated each other - they could never escape one another. Kate Williams’ thrilling new history tells the story of Elizabeth I of England and her betrayal of Mary, Queen of Scots. At the end of the Tudor era, here were two women on two thrones. But this was a man’s world, and many believed that no woman should govern.

In 16th-century Europe, two women came to hold all the power, against all the odds. They were Elizabeth I and Catherine de Medici. One a Virgin Queen who ruled her kingdom alone, and the other a clandestine leader who used her children to shape the dynasties of Europe, much has been written about these iconic women. But nothing has been said of their complicated relationship: 30 years of friendship, competition and conflict that changed the face of Europe.

Elizabeth is viewed as one of our greatest monarchs. She committed herself to her country, even ruling out marriage in favour of her subjects. It has been called a golden age. Welcome to our GCSE series on Elizabethan England, 1558-1588, where we discuss this fascinating period and question whether or not it was as golden as first thought. The series is broken down into four areas, each area focused on one of the four key topics to be studied: accession, religion, challenges and society.

There is untold history of Tudor England - the history of the several million subjects of their famous kings and queens. What did ordinary people do all day, in their homes, their work, their leisure and travel? An Accidental History of Tudor England explores the history of everyday life, and everyday death.

Mark Twain's hilarious (1909) debunking of the myth that William Shakespeare wrote the works of Shakespeare, adapted as a monologue for the stage by Keir Cutler, PhD. Performed across Canada and the US. "Cutler humorously distills Twain's thesis that Shakespeare didn't actually write the great works attributed to him. It's a compelling argument . . . to great comic effect. . . . Cutler gives a strong and entertaining performance!" Orlando Sentinel "Everyone will leave convinced the English-speaking world's greatest playwright is a hoax ... witty and compelling show." Winnipeg Free Press ...

Cousin to Elizabeth I - and possibly Henry VIII's illegitimate granddaughter - Lettice Knollys had a life of dizzying highs and pitiful lows. Entangled in a love triangle with Robert Dudley and Elizabeth I, banished from court, plagued by scandals, embroiled in treason, Lettice would lose a husband and son to the executioner's ax. In the first ever biography of this remarkable woman, Nicola Tallis takes us through her dramatic life and the grand sweep of the Tudor Age and the events that define it.

When Sir Francis Walsingham, spymaster to the Tudor Queen Elizabeth, learns of a Jesuit assassin landing on England's shores, he's determined to go to any lengths to protect his Protestant Queen. His protege, Kit Scarlett, discovers a letter revealing the name of the assassin—Gregorio Luca. Together with Scottish agent, Iomhar Blackwood, Walsingham sends them on a mission to track Luca down. It is clear Luca is only coming with one task in mind—to kill. But is his target the English queen?

The dramas of courtly love have captivated centuries of readers and dreamers. Yet too often they’re dismissed as something existing only in books and song - those old legends of King Arthur and chivalric fantasy. Not so. In this groundbreaking history, Sarah Gristwood reveals the way courtly love made and marred the Tudor dynasty.

Dorset, 1682. Catherine Carey was once a vivacious beauty with the world at her feet. One tragic accident was all it took to shatter her dreams, her spirit, her everything. Now, she only wants to hide her scarred face from the world. But if she thinks she’s safe at home, she is wrong. Her scheming brother wants to marry her off to a fortune-hunter, and he won’t take no for an answer. Out on a lonely walk, Catherine is attacked and left for dead. Could this be her brother’s doing?

Elizabethan Demonology: An Essay in Illustration of the Belief in the Existence of Devils, and the Powers Possessed By Them, as It Was Generally Held during the Period of the Reformation, and the Times Immediately Succeeding; with Special Reference to Shakespeare and His Works This Essay is an expansion, in accordance with a preconceived scheme, of two papers, one on The Witches in Macbeth, and the other on The Demonology of Shakespeare, which were read before the New Shakespeare Society in the years 1877 and 1878.

From the bestselling, prize-winning author Linden MacIntyre comes an engrossing exploration of the little-known life of Sir Hugh Tudor. Appointed by his friend Winston Churchill to lead the police in Ireland during the Irish War of Independence, Tudor met civil strife and domestic terrorism with indiscriminate state-sanctioned murder—changing the course of Irish history.

Elizabeth I acceded to the throne in 1558, restoring the Protestant faith to England. At the heart of the new queen's court lay Elizabeth's bedchamber, closely guarded by the favoured women who helped her dress, looked after her jewels and shared her bed. Elizabeth’s private life was of public, political concern. Her bedfellows were witnesses to the face and body beneath the make-up and elaborate clothes, as well as to rumoured illicit dalliances with such figures as Robert Dudley. Their presence was for security as well as propriety, as the kingdom was haunted by fears of assassination plots and other Catholic subterfuge.

More than four hundred years ago, seven people - five of them women - were beheaded in the Tower of London. Three had been queens of England. The others were found guilty of treason. Why were such important people put to death? Alison Weir's gripping book tells their stories: from the former friend betrayed by a man set on being king, to the young girl killed after just nine days on the throne. Alison Weir is a wonderful storyteller. Through her vivid writing, history comes alive.

To Each Their Own is a modern-writ comedy in the style of the Theatre of Elizabeth the First, written with a scholar's research and a modern Shakespearean actor's wit. It includes many of the elements we are used to seeing in Shakespeare (sassy servants, pompous Noblemen, love-at-first-sight, shipwrecks, magic, fights, sacrifice, and slapstick) and language that conveys much more than single emotions.

James Campbell Knight is a technology titan that transforms the world around him with his inventions. When he creates a time machine, his world is changed when he runs into a dangerous opponent in the past.

The Debatable Land was an independent territory which used to exist between Scotland and England. At the height of its notoriety, it was the bloodiest region in Great Britain, fought over by Henry VIII, Elizabeth I and James V. After the Union of the Crowns, most of its population was slaughtered or deported, and it became the last part of the country to be brought under the control of the state. Today, its history has been forgotten or ignored.

In lively, absorbing prose that rivals the finest literary fiction, prize-winning historian Carolly Erickson re-creates the life of the notorious Tudor king Henry VIII. In his youth as a charming national hero, his reign as a monstrous king, and his final days as a tottering old man, Erickson draws a thoroughly convincing portrait of one of English history's most notorious characters.