Simon Schama's Shakespeare and Us

How many 17th-century English playwrights can you name? Chances are there’s just the one. But why has the work of Shakespeare endured? Historian Simon Schama argues that the England he portrayed is the vision of the nation that we still revel in today. Not just monarchs, but ordinary men and women from all walks of life: royalty rub shoulders with rabble-rousers to create a complete world.

The monarchs of the British Isles were once seen as virtually godlike. But Shakespeare dared to strip away the mask of royalty to reveal the flawed individuals underneath. It was a risky strategy, especially as he drew on the lives of the rulers around him at the time, revealing profound truths not just about royalty but the rest of us, too. Historian Simon Schama explores how he got away with it.