James Shapiro on 1606: William Shakespeare and the Year of Lear

1606 was the year William Shakespeare wrote King Lear, Macbeth and Antony and Cleopatra. It was also the year that plague returned to London, and King James wanted to turn England and Scotland into a united Britain. And the aftermath of the Gunpowder Plot brings it shockingly close to Shakespeare's door. Ten years ago James Shapiro won the Samuel Johnson Prize for his bestseller 1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare. Now, to mark the forthcoming 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death, comes a compelling look at a no less extraordinary year in his life: 1606. http://www.faber.co.uk/9780571235780-1606.html