BOOKS EBOOKS RARE BOOKS CLASSICAL CDs DVDs PRINTED MUSIC PODCASTS OFFERS
Click here to take a virtual tour of Blackwells, Oxford

 
ISBN: 9781848682009 - Shakespeare's London
 Enlarge Bookmark and Share

Shakespeare's London

Everyday Life in London 1580-1616

Stephen Porter

ISBN: 9781848682009
Format: Paperback
Publisher:Amberley Publishing


 Write a review

Everyday life in the teeming metropolis during William Shakespeare's time in the city.

  Synopsis Details Contents Reviews  
Everyday life in the teeming metropolis during William Shakespeare's time in the city. Shakespeare's London was a bustling, teeming metropolis that was growing so rapidly that the government took repeated, and ineffectual, steps to curb its expansion. From contemporary letters, journals and diaries, a vivid picture emerges of this fascinating city, with its many opportunities and also its persistent problems. By far the largest city in the country, it was the centre of government, the law and the church, the focus of politics and culture. It had a vigorous economy, with a range of industries and a lucrative trade in luxury goods for the courtiers and wealthy citizens. Growth produced overcrowding and high mortality, with shockingly high death tolls during the periodic plague epidemics, yet London attracted an endless stream of people, who were absorbed into its diverse communities and economic structures. Here the first playhouses were built, patronised by large audiences, who were treated to a rich and varied diet of plays to keep them, and the court, entertained. The London that Shakespeare knew was an expanding, changing and exciting city.
 
    Printable