About this item
From the inimitable, mop-headed, New York Times-bestselling British journalist and politician, a celebration of the best-known Brit of all time. Four hundred years after his death, William Shakespeare is more popular than ever. With works translated into more than one hundred languages and studied by schoolchildren the world over, performed on every continent and adapted to every conceivable setting and interpretation, he remains an unparalleled global phenomenon. But why? What about Shakespeare has allowed him to stand the test of time? With characteristic curiosity, verve, and wit, Boris Johnson sets out to determine whether the Bard is indeed all he's cracked up to be, and if so, why - and how. He immerses us in the circumstances in which Shakespeare came of age - the swagger and terror of the Elizabethan Renaissance, with its newfound craze for theater and its bold intellectual flowering, under the hovering threat of repression.
About the Author
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, popular historian and journalist who has served as Mayor of London since 2008 and as Member of Parliament (MP) for Uxbridge and South Ruislip since 2015. Johnson previously served as the MP for Henley from 2001 until 2008. A member of the Conservative Party, Johnson considers himself a One Nation Conservative and has been described as a libertarian due to his association with both economically liberal and culturally liberal policies.
Bio from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Photo by U.S. Embassy photographer [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.
