pamphlets, plays, and poetry, all revealing some-
thing about the times in which these writers lived.Secara, Maggie,A Compendium of Common Knowledge,
1558–1603: Elizabethan Commonplaces for Writers, Actors &
Re-enactors, Popinjay Press, 2008.
Secara provides information about the details of
life during Queen Elizabeth’s reign. Secara includes
facts about food, occupations, religion, games, edu-
cation, and manners.
Shapiro, James,A Year in the Life of William Shake-
speare: 1599, Harper Perennial, 2006.
Shapiro relies upon the public events of 1599 to
analyze four of Shakespeare’s political plays
written in 1599, includingAs You Like It.
Wells, Stanley,Shakespeare for All Time, Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 2003.
This is an illustrated and easy-to-read narrative of
Shakespeare’s life and his legacy. Wells provides
a thoroughly researched biography of Shake-
speare’s life, as well as many interesting details
about the plays and their reception in the 400
years since Shakespeare wrote them.Seven Ages of Man