Peter Saccio

Shakespeare's History Plays present a number of challenges to the modern reader. First of all, the details of the historical events they portray are generally not familiar to many readers. Second, they contain a broad and confusing cast of characters. Making those characters even more challenging is a result of their names and titles changing as well as many characters having names of ancestors that had appeared in the earlier plays. Also, most of the characters are related to each other in one way or another. Third, the alliances of the characters shift frequently during the plays until it becomes increasingly difficult to remember whose side they are on. I admit to periods of confusion while reading the plays.

Peter Saccio's book tries to provide help to modern readers of the History plays. He also helps by providing a comparison between Shakespeare's version of events and the version understood by modern historians. Ironically, he concludes that Shakespeare's version of the events was pretty realistic albeit sometimes rearranged and simplified for dramatic effect.

This book should therefore be very useful to people wanting to better understand their Shakespeare. Unfortunately, Saccio's writing style left me confused about the nobles appearing in the plays. His appendixes with choronology and lists of characters were, however, useful.… (mehr)

Wait, who's the heir, why is Buckingham supporting Surrey against the king? Did it all happen the way Shakespeare said it did? This book clarifies the sequence of events, the characters and motivations behind the parts of English history that Shakespeare tuned into drama. The reader will learn that the playwright frequently moved events, such as the birth or deaths of characters, invented characters or eliminated actual persons for dramatic effect. This is a second edition and contains a foreword and afterword explaining changes in Shakespearean scholarship and in the study of English history. Contains maps, bibliography and genealogies.… (mehr)

NOT A REVIEW OF THE BOOKS OR DVDs :
A noticeable problem with Library Thing when it comes to entering sets of books and DVDs is that some of us made purchases of only a portion of a set, at say - a used bookstore. The price was right because the set was NOT complete when we found it. LT has made it so that adding the set via the ISBNs titles, and such defines it as the entire set. This means we have to tweak it a bit, which is not a problem but, may don't take the time to create additional entries within the same set of books or DVDs. Other account holders, like myself enjoy seeing the number of volumes of books in their library collection ascend. For me when I get a three book set, I add them as individual volumes. This series alone I have 3 DVDs and 3 books and a course guide book. The DVDs and Course Guidebook came together but, they are different forms of media. Again, "to me," THAT makes them really different - especially when it comes to where they are sorted within my home library. So, I add them as 4 separate entities. I take time to notate in the cataloging Part 1 of 3, Part 2 of 3 and Part 3 of 3, with respect given to those who's future may only attain a portion of the set. The three course study guide books again are entered as such and properly numbered on the book title line. I am also adding photographs of each to define this all the better. I feel this course just doesn't seem to get it's proper justice, as the photos of the course's books and DVDs, at least the 1999 first edition, have not been rightfully added. I will attempt to remedy this within my account. Last note: If I am to believe the entries that show the Shakespeare Great Courses book set as ONE book. then the pagination should properly reflect the book as having the following:
vi (Roman numeral 6) pages of front matter. (not ii, ii, and ii)
566 pages to the body of the work (not 182, 198, and 186).
6 pages unmarked (not 2, 2, and 2).
Again, this is over three books respectfully described in the parenthesis above.… (mehr)

NOT A REVIEW OF THE BOOKS OR DVDs :
A noticeable problem with Library Thing when it comes to entering sets of books and DVDs is that some of us made purchases of only a portion of a set, at say - a used bookstore. The price was right because the set was NOT complete when we found it. LT has made it so that adding the set via the ISBNs titles, and such defines it as the entire set. This means we have to tweak it a bit, which is not a problem but, may don't take the time to create additional entries within the same set of books or DVDs. Other account holders, like myself enjoy seeing the number of volumes of books in their library collection ascend. For me when I get a three book set, I add them as individual volumes. This series alone I have 3 DVDs and 3 books and a course guide book. The DVDs and Course Guidebook came together but, they are different forms of media. Again, "to me," THAT makes them really different - especially when it comes to where they are sorted within my home library. So, I add them as 4 separate entities. I take time to notate in the cataloging Part 1 of 3, Part 2 of 3 and Part 3 of 3, with respect given to those who's future may only attain a portion of the set. The three course study guide books again are entered as such and properly numbered on the book title line. I am also adding photographs of each to define this all the better. I feel this course just doesn't seem to get it's proper justice, as the photos of the course's books and DVDs, at least the 1999 first edition, have not been rightfully added. I will attempt to remedy this within my account. Last note: If I am to believe the entries that show the Shakespeare Great Courses book set as ONE book. then the pagination should properly reflect the book as having the following:
vi (Roman numeral 6) pages of front matter. (not ii, ii, and ii)
566 pages to the body of the work (not 182, 198, and 186).
6 pages unmarked (not 2, 2, and 2).
Again, this is over three books respectfully described in the parenthesis above.… (mehr)