Katherine Duncan-Jones – författare

''[A] deeply considered and stimulating book, informed throughout by the author''s intimate knowledge of the literature and society of Shakespeare''s age... '' Stanley Wells, TLS

''It is unquestionably the best Shakespearean biography of the new century'' Jonathan Bate, Sunday Telegraph

This major biography of Shakespeare was first published in 2001 to great critical acclaim. It remains highly regarded and much cited by critics and scholars. Its author, Katherine Duncan Jones was an advisor to William Boyd for his film about Shakespeare''s life (A Waste of Shame).

The book shows Shakespeare as a man among men and a writer among writers. He lives in a congested city, where he encounters disease, debt and cut-throat competition. His brilliance often makes him the object of envy and malice rather than adulation. He is a shrewd purchaser of property and shows no inclination to divert any of his wealth to charitable or altruistic ends. He appears to be more interested in relationships with well-born young men than with women. Duncan Jones takes us through the complexities of life in late Elizabethan and early Jacobean England in a compelling well-told story.

For this paperback reissue, the author has written a new Preface, detailing some of the recent debates about Shakespeare''s biography and identity.

''[A] deeply considered and stimulating book, informed throughout by the author''s intimate knowledge of the literature and society of Shakespeare''s age... '' Stanley Wells, TLS

''It is unquestionably the best Shakespearean biography of the new century'' Jonathan Bate, Sunday Telegraph

This major biography of Shakespeare was first published in 2001 to great critical acclaim. It remains highly regarded and much cited by critics and scholars. Its author, Katherine Duncan Jones was an advisor to William Boyd for his film about Shakespeare''s life (A Waste of Shame).

The book shows Shakespeare as a man among men and a writer among writers. He lives in a congested city, where he encounters disease, debt and cut-throat competition. His brilliance often makes him the object of envy and malice rather than adulation. He is a shrewd purchaser of property and shows no inclination to divert any of his wealth to charitable or altruistic ends. He appears to be more interested in relationships with well-born young men than with women. Duncan Jones takes us through the complexities of life in late Elizabethan and early Jacobean England in a compelling well-told story.

For this paperback reissue, the author has written a new Preface, detailing some of the recent debates about Shakespeare''s biography and identity.

An original and provocative study of the evolution of Shakespeare''s image, building on the success of Duncan-Jones'' acclaimed biography, Shakespeare: An Ungentle Life. Taking a broadly chronological approach, she investigates Shakespeare''s changing reputation, as a man, an actor and a poet, both from his own viewpoint and from that of his contemporaries. Many different categories of material are explored, including printed books, manuscripts, literary and non-literary sources. Rather than a biography, the book is an exploration with biographical elements. The change in public opinion in Shakespeare''s time is quite startling: Henry Chettle attacked him as an ''upstart Crow'' in 1592, an attack from which Shakespeare sought to defend himself; and yet by the time of the First Folio in 1623 he had become the ''Sweet Swan of Avon!'' and was fast becoming the national treasure he remains today.

This engaging and fascinating study brings the politics and fashions of Shakespeare''s literary and theatrical world vividly to life.

An original and provocative study of the evolution of Shakespeare''s image, building on the success of Duncan-Jones'' acclaimed biography, Shakespeare: An Ungentle Life. Taking a broadly chronological approach, she investigates Shakespeare''s changing reputation, as a man, an actor and a poet, both from his own viewpoint and from that of his contemporaries. Many different categories of material are explored, including printed books, manuscripts, literary and non-literary sources. Rather than a biography, the book is an exploration with biographical elements. The change in public opinion in Shakespeare''s time is quite startling: Henry Chettle attacked him as an ''upstart Crow'' in 1592, an attack from which Shakespeare sought to defend himself; and yet by the time of the First Folio in 1623 he had become the ''Sweet Swan of Avon!'' and was fast becoming the national treasure he remains today.

This engaging and fascinating study brings the politics and fashions of Shakespeare''s literary and theatrical world vividly to life.