Book description
From Neil MacGregor, the acclaimed creator of A History of the
World in 100 Objects and the Director of the British Museum,
comes a unique, enthralling exploration of the age of William
Shakespeare to accompany a new BBC Radio 4 series.
Shakespeare lived through a pivotal period in human history. With
the discovery of the New World, the horizons of Old Europe were
expanding dramatically - and long-cherished certainties were
crumbling. Life was exhilaratingly uncertain. What were Londoners
thinking when they went to see Shakespeare's plays? What was it like
living in their world? Here Neil MacGregor looks at twenty objects
from Shakespeare's life and times, and uncovers the fascinating
stories behind them.
The objects themselves range from the grand (such as the hoard of
gold coins that make up the Salcombe treasure) to the very humble,
like the battered trunk and worn garments of an unknown pedlar. But in
each case, they allow MacGregor to explore issues as diverse as piracy
and Islam, Catholicism and disguise. MacGregor weaves the histories of
objects into the words of Shakespeare's plays themselves to suggest to
us where his ideas about religion, national identity, the history of
England and the world, human nature itself, may have come from. The
result is a fresh and thrilling evocation of Shakespeare's world.
Neil MacGregor has been Director of the British Museum since August
2002. He was previously Director of the National Gallery in London from
1987 to 2002.
