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Article: A fine account of Shakespeare.(Shakespeare: The Biography)(Book review)
- Article from:
- Contemporary Review
- Article date:
- September 22, 2006
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 Contemporary Review Company Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Shakespeare: The Biography. Peter Ackroyd. Chatto & Windus. [pounds sterling]25.00. xiii + 546 pages. ISBN 1-85619-726-3.
This biography has many excellences. Mr Ackroyd is strong on London, as we would expect, and is intimately familiar with the textures of Elizabethan life--its lack of privacy, the minutiae of domestic transactions, the high infant mortality. When Shakespeare moved from Shoreditch it was to a better residential area, Bishopsgate. The author is also acutely aware of the Catholic connection, and never fails to point out those major figures whom Shakespeare encounters who are also Catholics. That is the undersong of the biography: Shakespeare made ...