Overview

Anti-apartheid activist, Bollywood screenwriter, Nazi pin-up, hero of the Wild West- this is Shakespeare as you have never seen him before. From the sixteenth-century Baltic to the American Revolution, from colonial India to the skyscrapers of modern-day Shanghai, Shakespeare s plays appear at the most fascinating of times and in the most unexpected of places. No other writer s work has been performed, translated, adapted and altered in such a remarkable variety of cultures and languages. But what is it about William Shakespeare a man from Warwickshire who never once set foot outside England that has made him at home in so many places around the globe? Travelling across four continents, six countries and 400 years, Andrew Dickson takes us on a personal journey rich in insight and surprise. We enter the air-conditioned vault deep beneath Capitol Hill where the world s largest collection of First Folios is stored; discover the shadowy history of Joseph Goebbels s obsession with Shakespeare; and uncover the true story behind the scuffed edition in which Nelson Mandela and fellow Robben Island prisoners inscribed their names. Both cultural history and literary travelogue, Wor

Full Product Details

9780805097344

Table of Contents

Reviews

There were very few pages on which I didn t learn something new or revelatory. A must-read for anyone interested in Shakespeare s impact around the globe. James Shapiro, author of 1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare Brilliantly original. Absolutely engaging, witty and irresistible. What s most remarkable: he s said something new about Shakespeare. Michael Pye, author of The Edge of the World Immensely well-informed and highly readable. A revelatory journey of cultural exploration. Professor Stanley Wells, General Editor of the Oxford and Penguin Shakespeares This book is much more than just a hugely entertaining travelogue. In its strikingly original, engagingly idiosyncratic way, Dickson s action-packed global quest amounts to a substantial new contribution to Shakespeare scholarship. The Guardian An extraordinarily exhilarating book, like no other Shakespeare criticism you have ever read...[Dickson] is a serious scholar, and his cross-cultural insights into Shakespeare are remarkable. Margaret Drabble, New Statesman More than just a hugely entertaining travelogue a substantial new contribution to Shakespeare scholarship. Anthony Holden, The Observer A joy, full to bursting with surprising incidents, stories and insight. Dominic Dromgoole, The Sunday Times Eye-opening and engrossing. Nick Curtis, Mail on Sunday Engaging and informative....an absorbing investigation into the varying encounters of the Bard worldwide....Highly recommended for all Shakespeare lovers and also for readers interested in the role of arts and culture in this age of globalization. Library Journal It's always refreshing when someone blows the dust off Shakespeare studies, and English journalist Andrew Dickson does it with gusto in [ Worlds Elsewhere ]....his research is impressive; tracing the centuries' long history of each nation's engagement with Shakespeare gives rich context to his vivid appreciations of present-day productions....I was moved and excited by Dickson's celebration of 'defiantly plural' Shakespeares....Anyone who wants to keep the Bard's plays alive in the 21st century should be glad to find him thriving in so many incarnations, 'different at every turn.' The American Scholar A rousing and insightful tour through the global manifestations of Shakespeare's works with plenty of information that will even stun even those who thought they knew it all an eloquent testimony of how cultural motifs gets transmitted, changed to alien climes and still flourish. The Times of India Dickson proves himself a genial guide to Shakespeare's huge influence and legacy. A frequently illuminating investigation of Shakespeare around the world. Kirkus Reviews

There were very few pages on which I didn t learn something new or revelatory. A must-read for anyone interested in Shakespeare s impact around the globe. -James Shapiro, author of 1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare Immensely well-informed and highly readable. A revelatory journey of cultural exploration. -Professor Stanley Wells, General Editor of the Oxford and Penguin Shakespeares Brilliantly original. Absolutely engaging, witty and irresistible. What s most remarkable: he s said something new about Shakespeare. -Michael Pye, author of The Edge of the World

Author Information

Andrew Dickson was raised in Yorkshire, and studied at Cambridge. He is currently an honorary fellow at Birkbeck, University of London, a former visiting fellow at the University of Warwick, and has contributed to The New Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare. Formerly an arts editor at the Guardian in London, he continues to write regularly for the paper and has also written for The New Yorker online and The New Statesman. He makes regular appearances on BBC radio and TV as a presenter and reviewer.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available