Books by James Shapiro
James Shapiro has been teaching English literature at Columbia University for over 25 years, during which time he has written numerous books about Shakespeare and early modern English literature. In 2006, Shapiro won the Samuel Johnson Prize for his book 1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare. His most recent book, 1606: The Year of Lear, won the James Tait Black Prize.
1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare
by James Shapiro
🏆 Winner of the 2006 Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction
🏆 Winner of the 2023 Winner of Winners Prize, which aims to pick out the best nonfiction book of the past 25 years
1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare is a brilliant book that brings to life the world Shakespeare lived in, and events taking place around him, in 1599. That was the year Shakespeare finished writing Henry V, wrote Julius Caesar and As You Like It, and made his first draft of Hamlet. 1599 is by James Shapiro, a professor of English at Columbia (You can also read our interview with him about Shakespeare's life, as he is one of many experts to recommend the best Shakespeare books for us).
Interviews with James Shapiro
The best books on Shakespeare’s Life, recommended by James Shapiro
Though many scholars have done meticulous work and brought to life slices of his life, writing a traditional, cradle-to-grave biography of Shakespeare is impossible, says Shakespeare scholar James Shapiro. Here he selects some of his favourite books tackling aspects of Shakespeare’s life, including the one he most wishes he had written himself.
Interviews where books by James Shapiro were recommended
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1
Question 7
by Richard Flanagan -
2
Fire Weather: A True Story from a Hotter World
by John Vaillant -
3
Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne
by Katherine Rundell -
4
Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty
by Patrick Radden Keefe -
5
One Two Three Four: The Beatles in Time
by Craig Brown -
6
The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper
by Hallie Rubenhold
Baillie Gifford Prize-Winning Nonfiction Books
Baillie Gifford Prize-Winning Nonfiction Books
It's a prize that has been awarded annually since 1999 to a book that speaks to an important issue but is also highly readable. Below you'll find all the winners of the Baillie Gifford Prize, the UK's most prestigious non-fiction book award—from a gripping account of a turning point in World War II to a terrifying forest fire in an oil town in Canada.
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1
Peacemakers: Six Months That Changed the World
by Margaret MacMillan -
2
1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare
by James Shapiro -
3
Nothing to Envy
by Barbara Demick -
4
Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty
by Patrick Radden Keefe -
5
Into the Silence: The Great War, Mallory and the Conquest of Everest
by Wade Davis -
6
One Two Three Four: The Beatles in Time
by Craig Brown
The Best Nonfiction of the Past Quarter Century: The Baillie Gifford Prize Winner of Winners, recommended by Sophie Roell
The Best Nonfiction of the Past Quarter Century: The Baillie Gifford Prize Winner of Winners, recommended by Sophie Roell
“All the best stories are true” runs the tagline of the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction, the UK’s pre-eminent nonfiction book award. This year, to celebrate the prize’s 25th birthday, a panel of judges picked out books for a winner of winners award, making for an excellent collection of nonfiction books from the last quarter of a century, as Five Books editor Sophie Roell explains.
