"An intimate portrait of one of Shakespeare's most inspired moments: the year of King Lear, Macbeth and Antony and Cleopatra. 1606, while a very good year for Shakespeare, is a fraught one for England. Plague returns. There is surprising resistance to the new king's desire to turn England and Scotland into a united Britain. And fear and uncertainty sweep the land and expose deep divisions in the aftermath of the failed terrorist attack that came to be known as the Gunpowder Plot. James Shapiro deftly demonstrates how these extraordinary plays responded to the tumultuous events of this year, events that in unexpected ways touched upon Shakespeare's own life ... [and] profoundly changes and enriches our experience of his plays--Publisher's description.

"Until 1606 the Great South Land was a mystery to Europeans. When Dutchman Willem Janszoon, captain of the Duyfken, landed at Cape York 400 years ago he thought he was in New Guinea. By the time Matthew Flinders' charts were published in 1814 Australia had emerged on the map and in name. This book tells the stories of the seafaring explorers, the shipwrecks, mutinies and daring escapes that came after Janszoon, including the voyages of Torres and La Perouse, Dampier, Cook and D'Entrecasteaux. These are tales of adventure, discovery and navigational triumph in the face of hardship, starvation and disaster at the far end of the world."--BOOK JACKET.