Six episodes combine history, biography, iconic performances, new analysis, and the personal passion of their celebrated hosts (Ethan Hawke, Jeremy Irons, Derek Jacobi, Trevor Nunn, Joely Richardson, and David Tennant) to tell the story behind the stories of Shakespeare's greatest plays.

Six celebrated hosts to tell the stories behind the stories of Shakespeare's greatest plays, revealing not just the elements in the play, but the history of the play itself. What sparked the creation of each of these works? Where did Shakespeare get his plots, and what cultural, political and religious factors influenced his writing? Why has this body of work endured so thoroughly? What, in the end, makes Shakespeare so great?

Proposing to divide his vast kingdom amongst his three daughters, Goneril, Regan and Cornelia, Lear devises a test for his offspring to convince him of their suitability and compassion for rule. Goneril and Regan's true colors emerge, they uncover a vast conspiracy of greed and cruelty within the once loyal dynasty.

Emily Dickinson wrote a "letter to the world" and left it lying in her drawer more than a century ago. This widely admired epistle was her poems, which were never conventionally published in book form during her lifetime. Since the posthumous discovery of her work, general readers and literary scholars alike have puzzled over this paradox of wanting to communicate widely and yet apparently refusing to publish. In this pathbreaking study, Martha Nell...

It's the greatest literary mystery of all time: Who wrote the works of William Shakespeare? Although the official story of a Stratford merchant writing for the London box office has held sway for centuries, questions over the authorship of the plays and poems persists. Derek Jacobi leads an impressive cast featuring Vanessa Redgrave and Mark Rylance on a quest to uncover the truth behind the world's most elusive author, and discovers a forgotten nobleman...

"When her estranged mother dies, Stella is left with an unusual inheritance: a one-way plane ticket and a note reading "Go to Paris." But Stella is hardly cut out for adventure; a childhood trauma, and her mother's negligent parenting style, have kept her strictly confined to her comfort zone, even in adulthood. When her boss encourages her to time off, Stella resigns herself to honor her mother's wishes, even if a spontaneous trip to Paris is the...

Can Mimi undo the mayhem caused by her baking in this contemporary-fantasy retelling of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream? Eleven-year-old Mimi Mackson comes from a big Indian American family: Dad's a renowned food writer, Mom's a successful businesswoman, and her three older siblings all have their own respective accomplishments. It's easy to feel invisible in such an impressive family, but Mimi's dream of proving she's not the least-talented...

"A woman fresh out of a failed marriage has seemingly written her soulmate into existence--only to discover that great love begets greater tragedy--in this fantastical reimagination of Romeo and Juliet. Helene Janssen has been dreaming of Romeo since she was cast as Juliet in her school play in eighth grade. With her father dying from an incurable brain tumor and the boy cast opposite her a jerk, Helene invented her own Romeo--an imaginary friend...

Beginning at dawn with the cock's rousing crow and proceeding into either Catholic abstinence or Protestant-approved marital relations at nightfall, this charming work celebrates the ordinary lives of those who labored through the dramatic Tudor era. Goodman draws on her own hands-on experience living on a replicated Tudor farm to bring all the sights, smells, and appetites of this era to visceral, vibrant life. The Tudor period began in 1485 with...

John Baxter has uncovered more fascinating true stories about the characters that gave Paris its "character" in the years between World War I and World War II. Explore more about one of the world's most beautiful and loved cities in twenty-six fact-filled, humorous, and dramatic stories about the famed Annees Folles--the Crazy Years at the turn of the 20th century in Paris. Learn about Gertrude Stein and her famous writers' salon, Salvador Dali and...