Title
Linked to Abebooks or Amazon |
Author |
|
Comment |
|
Simon Schama |
4 |
Colorful comments on moments in Britsh History. |
|
Elizabeth Hallam (ed) |
4 |
Contemporary accounts of the War of the Roses. |
|
Desmond Seward |
5 |
A thorough account centered on key characters. |
| Richard III - A Source Book |
Keith Dockray |
5+ |
Summary of contemporay accounts of Richard's Life (& Death). |
|
Michael Hicks |
5 |
'Just the facts, M'am' - this is on very firm ground. |
| Richard III - A Study in Service |
Rosemary Horrox |
5+ |
Very detailed PhD Thesis - for 'Ricardians' only. |
|
Richard Rex |
4 |
Concise overview of the Tudors. |
|
Antonia Fraser |
4 |
More detail than you will ever need but a little biased. |
|
David Loades |
5 |
Balanced biography of England's first Queen. |
|
Antonia Fraser |
4 |
Sympathetic biography of Mary Queen of Scots. |
|
Alison Plowden |
4 |
Helps understand how tragic Jane Grey's short life really was. |
|
David Starkey |
3 |
Biography of Elizabeth I focused pre-accession. |
|
Anne Somerset |
5 |
Detailed whole life Biography of Elizabeth I. |
|
David Loades |
5 |
The one to read if you only have time for one book. |
|
Leanda de Lisle |
4 |
Light on a poorly documented period. |
|
G. P. V. Akrigg |
4 |
A detailed look at an interesting but neglected King. |
The Complete Idiot's Guide
to Shakespeare's Plays |
Cynthia Greenwood |
5 |
Very informative book - with a silly title. |
|
Michael Wood |
4 |
Some really interesting stuff - but a lot of conjecture. |
|
Stephen Greenblatt |
5 |
The same field as Wood's, but more scholarly. |
| Hamlet in Purgatory |
Stephen Greenblatt |
2 |
Mostly Catholic doctrine - Hamlet 'enters' halfway through. |
|
Marjorie Garber |
5 |
Easily accessible background for all 38 plays. |
|
John Dover Wilson |
4 |
A compendium of contemporary accounts. |
|
John J Norwich |
5 |
Reconciles 'History' plays with the record. |
| Filthy Shakespeare |
Pauline Kiernan |
5 |
A new dimension -
Not for sensitive readers. |
|
DVDs
Linked to Netflix DVD Collection |
|
Michael Wood |
5 |
2 disc series. Has less focus on religion than the book. |
| Monarchy |
David Starkey |
5 |
2 disc series. His style can seem tedious. |
|
Simon Schama |
5 |
5 disc series. Hits most of the key spots - but misses some too. |
| Royal Deceit |
|
1 |
The original story of Hamlet - Great cast, lousy script & direction, but interesting. |
| |
|
Other Links |
|
|
PlayShakespeare.com - another source of the complete texts and synopses of Shakespeare's plays together with related news items |
| University of Southern California paper on Elizabethan & Jacobean stage ghosts. |
| A reliable and detailed list of the sources from which Shakespeare 'Borrowed' many of his story lines. |
|