Book description
Conspiracies and intrigue are rife in the court of Henry VIII as a Duke
is executed for treason, having been tricked by the Cardinal. And when
the King falls in love with Anne Bullen and decides to divorce his wife,
he causes an irrevocable rift with the Catholic Church. After the King's
secret marriage to Anne courtiers fall in and out of favour and deaths
abound, with far-reaching consequences.
William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was born to John Shakespeare and
mother Mary Arden some time in late April 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon.
He wrote about 38 plays (the precise number is uncertain), a
collection of sonnets and a variety of other poems.
Stanley Wells is Emeritus Professor of the University of Birmingham
and Chairman of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.
Catherine Alexander, formerly a lecturer at the Shakespeare Centre,
Stratford, is a Fellow of the Shakespeare Institute, University of
Birmingham. Her research ineterests are in Shakespeare in performance
and eighteenth-century Shakespeare. She is co-editor, with Stanley
Wells, of Shakespeare and Race and Shakespeare and Sexuality, and
editor of Shakespeare and Language and Shakespeare and Politics (all
for CUP).
