David Daniell - Böcker

This translation of the New Testament into English from its original Greek was printed in Germany in 1534 and smuggled back into England. It therefore escaped the fate of Tyndale’s previous version, which had been seized and publicly burnt by the authorities. The 1534 edition outraged the clerical establishment by giving the laity access to the word of God, in print in English for the first time. Tyndale, who was already in exile for political reasons, was hunted down and subsequently burned at the stake for blasphemy.For the next eighty years—the years of Shakespeare among others—Tyndale’s masterly translation formed the basis of all English bibles. And when the authorized King James Bible was published in 1611, many of its finest passages were taken unchanged, though unacknowledged, from Tyndale’s work.Although, therefore, this astounding work of pioneering scholarship was the basis of all subsequent English bibles until after the Second World War, and though it was the version of the Bible used by some of our greatest poets, it is today virtually unknown because of its suppression for political reasons because of its difficult early sixteenth-century spelling.Now for the first time this version is published in modern spelling, as the modern book it once was, so that this masterly work of English prose by one of the great geniuses of the as is available to today’s reader.

One of the key foundation books of the English Reformation, The Obedience of a Christian Man (1528) makes a radical challenge to the established order of the all-powerful Church of its time. Himself a priest, Tyndale boldly claims that there is just one social structure created by God to which all must be obedient, without the intervention of the rule of the Pope. He argues that Christians cannot be saved simply by performing ceremonies or by hearing the Scriptures in Latin, which most could not understand, and that all should have access to the Bible in their own language - an idea that was then both bold and dangerous. Powerful in thought and theological learning, this is a landmark in religious and political thinking.

Coriolanus has always attracted strong interest, whether seen as the last of Shakespeare’s tragedies, or as his most political play. In performance it has been constantly reinterpreted and has often strayed far from Shakespeare’s text.The Royal Shakespeare Company production, mounted by Terry Hands with Alan Howard in the title role, was acclaimed by audiences and critics in Stratford and London for its forcefulness and fidelity to Shakespeare’s play. David Daniell accompanied the Company on its subsequent tour in Europe where audiences were stimulated by this powerful production of a play that has a startling European history of heavy political adaptation.Living closely with the Company, David Daniell gained a remarkable standpoint for approaching the play and its performance as well as for drawing a fascinating account of a great theatre company on the move. His interpretation of the play and theatrical technique draws extensively on the experiences of the actors, other members of the company and its European hosts, audiences and critics.Coriolanus in Europe provides some penetrating insights into the problems and achievements of present-day theatre in general and of one outstanding Company in particular.

This edition of one of Shakespeare's best known and most frequently performed plays argues for Julius Caesar as a new kind of political play, a radical departure from contemporary practice, combining fast action and immediacy with compelling rhetorical language, and finding a clear context for its study of tyranny in the last decade of the reign of Elizabeth 1. The richly experimental verse and the complex structure of the play are analysed in depth, and a strong case is made for this to be the first play to be performed at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre.'Daniell's edition is a hefty piece of serious scholarship that makes a genuine contribution.'Eric Rasmussen, University of Nevada at Reno, Shakespeare Survey'This is a stimulating new look at a play which is too often exhibited in a critical museum.' Paul Dean, English Studies