Shakespeare’s Restless World: A Book Worth Reading

Shakespeare’s Restless World: A Portrait of an Era in Twenty Objects by Neil MacGregor

I just finished reading and blogging all of Shakespeare’s plays (to celebrate the Bard’s 450th birthday)–haven’t yet posted the Othello blog, so I was intrigued when I heard Diane Rehm’s (NPR) interesting interview of Mr. MacGregor, director of the British Museum, about his Shakespeare’s Restless World. I read the book based on that interview.

Shakespeare’s Restless World greatly enhanced my understanding of the social context of the late 1500s/early 1600s in which Shakespeare wrote, e.g., from the impact the Plague had on the theater (and Romeo and Juliet) to the seemingly over the top bloody acts portrayed in several tragedies and histories.

The Elizabethan and Jacobean world surrounding Shakespeare and his audience was changing rapidly (like our own), and that is a key takeaway from Shakespeare’s Restless World.

The book, perhaps because it’s source is radio interviews, is an easy, quick read; chapters short; photos and illustrations are outstanding. The use of objects to symbolize the social circumstances helps memory.

This is a great read for anyone interested in that crucial time in history or in Shakespeare or who is reading or intends to read any of his plays.

The book follows the success of Neil MacGregor’s earlier British Museum undertaking A History of the World in 100 objects.

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