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    Shakespeare
    Shakespeare
    Shakespeare
    Audiobook5 hours

    Shakespeare

    Written by David Crane

    Narrated by David Crane

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Shakespeare: The Illustrated Edition is an exquisitely illustrated, updated edition of Bill Bryson’s bestselling biography of William Shakespeare that takes the reader on an enthralling tour through Elizabethan England and the eccentricities of Shakespearean scholarship. With more than 100 color and black-and-white illustrations throughout, and updated to include recent discoveries, Shakespeare: The Illustrated Edition evokes the superstitions, academic discoveries, and myths surrounding the life of one of the greatest poets, and makes sense of the man behind the masterpieces.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateOct 23, 2007
    ISBN9780061555343
    Shakespeare
    Author

    David Crane

    Bill Bryson's bestselling books include One Summer, A Short History of Nearly Everything, At Home, A Walk in the Woods, Neither Here nor There, Made in America, and The Mother Tongue. He lives in England with his wife.

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    Reviews for Shakespeare

    4/5

    1,462 ratings177 reviews

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    • 5/5
      I came across Mrs. Traikos Mina   when she appeared as a guest on a Forex Podcast in the USA. I was listening to and was very impressed with her straight forward approach and the principles of her trading strategy. My heart then told me to invest $1,500 with her company as a trial. I was able to withdraw a profit of $8,300 after 7 days. Mrs. Traikos mina   FX. make this possible, do well and reach out to her for a secure investment too...
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    • 4/5
      I liked how short it was. Made it easy to learn a lot in an easy way.
    • 4/5
      This was both well written and humorous in presenting its very interesting content. Bryson proves that Shakespeare probably wrote all that is attributed to him and probably more. Bryson tells us why the theories that others wrote some or all of what is credited to Shakespeare have no proof to support them. Since I have met him, I personally enjoyed his criticism of Marc Rylance.
    • 4/5
      Very good.
    • 5/5
      GREAT BOOK, VERY SUSPENSFUL!
    • 4/5
      Can't believe what hard lives many of these people lived. Such an interesting book, chronicling the life of one Midwife in the 1950's in the East End of London. Dockworkers and their families living in tenements, woman having baby after baby. Another book that makes one glad they live in this period of time. These woman had it so hard, trying to feed their families with no indoor plumbing or water and very little money. One old lady who lived in an abandoned building actually had toenails that were 12 inches long and an inch thick, supposedly they are still part of a museum exhibit. Anyway really glad to have read this, to truly appreciate the sisters and midwives who gave these poor people medical attention, they were truly angels of mercy.
    • 5/5
      Some of us are lucky to have defining periods in our lives, a time that forever remains the center and from which we measure the rest of our lives as “before” and “after”. For Jennifer Worth, that time seems to be the 1950s when she worked as a midwife in London's East End while living in a nun's convent. This was a transitional period for the community as well. Many of the tenements had been condemned and residents were biding their time until their relocation. Worth recalls the difficulties of adjustment, the primitive working conditions by today's standards, the lessons she absorbed through observation of the nuns and their methods, the occasional interpersonal conflicts that result from living and working in close quarters, and the joy she experienced as she formed deep and lasting friendships.Readers familiar with the television series based on the books will notice a few small differences between the book and the show. The book itself has an episodic feel, with each chapter describing specific incidents from Worth's experiences. The books and the television series remind me of a much-loved favorite, All Creatures Great and Small. They have similar nostalgic elements that recall a community and a way of life that now exist only in memories. Worth has captured her memories with words that have the power to transport readers to that place and time.
    • 2/5
      Slick fast predictable thriller with twists and turns that make it unbelievable and extremely unlikely. Its pace makes up for its lack of cohesive realism
    • 4/5
      Would absolutely recommend this book - as long as you aren't squeamish about OB/GYN procedures and birth! Keeping in mind this is non-fiction, and the author is not a "writer" but rather an older woman sharing the amazing stories of her life - this is very enjoyable. My only issues were that the story jumps around a bit and doesn't really flow - but again, she isn't a "writer" by trade and so all is forgiven. Very interesting read - I loved the people she knew and helped, and I loved the way she compared life then, with life now to remind us how very much living standards and technology have changed since the 1950's.
    • 5/5
      Call the Midwife is the story of a young nurse who learns midwifery from nuns in the slums of 1950s London. She lives at a convent dedicated to nursing the community and delivering babies of the area neighborhoods. She tells of her relationship with the nuns and how their faith affects her own life and beliefs. She describes some of the other nurses with whom she lives and comes to know as friends. And she portrays the people who live in this poverty-stricken area of London, how they live, love, suffer, and prosper. She gives many accounts of the deliveries that she is involved in and sometimes goes into quite a bit of detail! But it just shows the high expectations of the people regarding midwives at that time, and of the high esteem in which they were held. I thought this book was extraordinary and also liked that the author told some of the history of the area, of how the people lived and why, even getting into the issues of prostitution and workhouses. An amazing read!
    • 5/5
      I loved this memoir into the life of midwife Jenny Lee. She writes with poignant and in depth detail of her cases and her personal life. This book will move you, have you laughing, have you astonished, and at times near tears. I can't wait to read the next book.
    • 4/5
      Not sure what to say. I liked it. There were several interesting and fun characters- and I'm sure I learned much more than I ever thought I would.
      However, my first thought was... I can't read every detail about every birth person has witnessed. After the first chapter, it moved into other stories, some of which were excellent. My only objection was - it felt a little choppy. (Because it really was a book with many different scenarios, it felt like a book of short stories, and I'm not a fan.)
    • 2/5
      Oh how I had to struggle to finish this book. I somehow had the idea that it would be like James Herriot's books, as in All Creatures Great and Small. Not Even A Little. Angela's Ashes? Oh ha, not close. Overall, it was a grim read without much redemption.There were parts of the book that I found engaging, probably because of my own work as an RN in labor & delivery. Then there was my favorite character, Chummy, who unfortunately appeared in only one chapter. However, there were some real spoiler chapters in the book, particularly where Worth chose to write (three chapters!) about a prostitute she had met on her rounds. If her book had been about prostitution, I suppose she would have been justified; however, I felt blindsided after reading those chapters and wished that I had skipped them. I also could have done without about 90% of the bathroom "humor" that was written into this thing.Probably the most interesting part of the book was the community of the London Docklands as they existed in the 1950s. Worth's book left me wishing she had been able to incorporate more about the area into the book. I imagine a book like London's Docklands by Fiona Rule would cover the subject better. I think my basic problem with the book could be summed up pretty simply: Worth isn't much of a storyteller. This book seems like a real missed opportunity.
    • 5/5
      Excellently researched and an enjoyable story. Bill takes us on a trip to the final years of the Tudor dynasty wherein an additional "King" was the theatre... At least to those of us not biting our thumb. I particularly enjoyed the bits about the Master of the Revels and the information about the printing process! Some of it was (I think) reasonably basic facts that, at least, someone who grew up in the Commonwealth are taught throughout school. But that creates a comfortable understanding so you stay on the same page as the well-read author.
    • 5/5
      A true account of a young midwife's experiences in a poor section of England in the 1950's. The vibrancy with which the author recounts her experiences amazed and fascinated me, especially since she wrote about things 50 years later!
    • 4/5
      This is a memoir of a nurse midwife during the 1950's living and working in the heart of London Docklands. Being a nurse myself, I had many laughs about the stories shared in this book.

      "Why did I ever start this? I must have been mad! There were dozens of other things I could have been - a model, air hostess, or a ship's stewardess. The ideas run through my head, all glamorous, highly paid jobs."

      Although deeply rewarding, the life of a midwife can be filled with both joy and sorrow. It is a true calling requiring dedication and compassion.

    • 4/5
      Absolutely charming....and if you are a grammarian, do not miss the Appendix which gives a brief education on the Cockney language - the language of Shakespeare and King Henry VIII!
    • 5/5
      Each chapter is a story of the difficulties of daily life for women; illegal abortion, premature birth, diseases that we never think about today. The stories are about very real people and their resilience in very difficult situations. I enjoyed the PBS series, I loved the memoir.
    • 4/5
      A young nurses accounts of what it was like working in the East End of London in the 1950's. An enjoyable eye-opening read. I loved reading the accounts of how things were and it makes you appreciate how well things are now and we really have nothing to complain about. The conditions in which these families were living were actually awful but they had to make do and got on with it. The birth rate was absolutely huge as well with women having up to 25 babies - my goodness! Thank goodness for contraception. Also the fact that babies are living when being born prematurely and the maternal death rate has decreased dramatically. Reading of how things were for the nurses/midwives was very interesting. They had a huge workload and Jenny seemed very devoted. Overall a great insight and its definitely worth reading. 
    • 4/5
      This is a compelling, thought provoking look at midwifery in the slums of post war London. Reading this affirms my feeling that it's a miracle so many healthy babies have been born over the centuries to mothers who made it through the birth just fine. Some of the book was too graphic for me, but it's easy enough to skip a few pages. Highly recommend.
    • 5/5
      :) :) :) : )

      Jennifer Worth is the bomb-dot-com. Read it all!
    • 5/5
      Informative, witty, accessible, and engaging. Highly recommended. Bill Bryson is a great reader of his own work and there's a brief interview with him at the end.
    • 4/5
      Quick introduction to the bard!
    • 4/5
      Fascinating stories of birth and women. Only I really disliked the extremely detailed and graphic description of a teenage girl's introduction to a brothel. It was disturbing enough without needing all the details.
    • 4/5
      This thoughtfully written memoir forms the basis for the fictionalized television series of the same name. Worth's experiences in one of London's poorest neighborhoods in the 1950s is full of laughter and tears as she describes her experiences.
    • 5/5
      This woman has seen a lot. Being a midwife really gets you in amongst the real lives of people, and it shows with this book. The author went from nursing into midwifery training under the care of Nuns, and even though she wasn't religious, lived in the convent while practicing. 1950s East End London was a poor and rough place but her nurses uniform afforded her respect. Just how poor and crowded the area was shocked me. Most families lived packed into small 2 room places, and it was the norm to have at least 5 or 6 kids. Most families kept clean and tidy homes, but descriptions of some who lived in squalor- piles of human waste indoors, flies, half naked dirty children- astounded me. People couldn't afford to get a doctor for the delivery of a baby, and as mothers grandmothers, aunts and any older woman about could tell you, you didn't really need one. Such was the level of knowledge amongst them all, things were managed at home with the local midwife and GP if needed. Chapter by chapter Worth reveals the personal stories of the people she encountered in the course of her early career. So often, the stories are sad. Families were destroyed upon the early death of the husband/father, and few options were left for a mother trying to support a large brood of kids, and little or no income and no social security. Alcoholism, prostitution, condemned housing tenements. And then stories of loving and supportive families, sober hard-working, proud men who loved and helped their wives in the home- which was so unheard of then. The mixed bag that is humanity. A fantastic social history.
    • 4/5
      Medical care in the slums East London set in the 50's hardly seemed appealing but I am trying to be more open minded in my choice of reading material. I have never watched the series either. The beginning of the book had me telling myself "I told you so". My attention kept wandering but I was not ready to abandon the book yet. I am really glad I stuck it out because the stories told by Jenny were interesting. Some of them were funny and charming while others were heartbreaking. This is not a gentle book. Some of the stories are a bit graphic but I would say they appear realistic.
    • 3/5
      I really enjoyed this book. The stories Worth recounts are unbelievable at times! It's hard to imagine people living the way they did not that long ago. (the 1950's) I would recommend this book if you are at all interested in midwifery or just life in the 50's in London. I couldn't put it down.

      The only reason I didn't give it 4 stars is because there's a graphic sex scene that takes place in a "Cafe" in the chapter titled, "Mary." The book would have been just as heart-wrenching without going into as much detail in that particular scene.
    • 5/5
      Kate's life becomes unraveled when her family has to go into the Witness Protection Program for their own safety. But wait....just who is her family??? Gross does so much better writing without Patterson, in my opinion. He seems to have a better story line with better development of characters.This definitely is difficult to put down!
    • 5/5
      What an outstanding memoir. I was expecting a catalog of anecdotes revolving around babies and midwifery, a topic which at first sight doesn't really interest me but I'm quite fond of reading about women's history in general so I thought I'd give it a go. What I did not expect was Jennifer Worth's astonishing talent for writing. People who've led interesting lives are few. People who've led interesting lives and are born writers are a rarity. Worth is one of them. This is not only filled to the brim with very rich stories of births, it's also an amazing account of midwifery history. Worth is not only an excellent midwife but she reflects on her practice and often compares what life was in the 50s to what it's like now. This in turn makes for a deeply rewarding book. I learned a lot and I'm so happy I read this, it's a deeply touching, never sentimental memoir that has the knowledge of a history book and the readability of a novel. What a treasure.