List Price: $34.99 Details

Save: $12.25 (35%)

FREE delivery May 23 - 31. Details

In Stock.

As an alternative, the Kindle eBook is available now and can be read on any device with the free Kindle app. Want to listen? Try Audible.

[{"displayPrice":"$22.74","priceAmount":22.74,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"22","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"74","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"%2F6orL%2FfHWs3d64tIbBUBVmm3FEIxd%2B8YNVADBgILk5oE6FiONTGjv%2FDtwP7h65fbarLA%2FPxPnSgSpwtbGPfACtVJ%2Bak7W%2FswKDl1dC02wjn43uN8BnD3YnbBpSWdJqcpITAuVhIvMkBbk1W4tFcDfN5f1Lf3B%2BkH5SFjk1%2Fxo%2BmS9WGhVjxClw%3D%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW"},{"displayPrice":"$10.96","priceAmount":10.96,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"10","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"96","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"RxX%2FBq3GlBJ7CSpSOdxqH4OjAWwA63s2gc6%2FySPjq9Y8o07yfpxBjLb3mxajUPtrFDidMsmDon0hVMA1gqGL5udjI7pSlqadvUY%2BCnIUvFYIZzAAMVM9FSn50lA9vMDiy4%2BguutjzIdc7dSqlcybRwrWSSX0tbNyi3QLejnGNBI%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED"}]

$$22.74 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details

Secure transaction

Ships from

Blackstone_Publishing

Sold by

Blackstone_Publishing

Details

Ships from

Blackstone_Publishing

Sold by

Blackstone_Publishing

Return policy: Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt

$3.99 delivery May 23 - 26. Details

Used: Good | Details

Sold by gehlbh

Share <Embed>

Have one to sell?

Sell on Amazon

Other Sellers on Amazon

Added

Not added

$34.99
& FREE Shipping. Details

Sold by: Amazon.com

Flip to back Flip to front

Listen Playing... Paused You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition.
Learn more

See this image

Follow the Author

Stephen Greenblatt

Tyrant: Shakespeare on Politics Audio CD – May 15, 2018

by Stephen Greenblatt (Author)

385 ratings

Editors' pick Best Nonfiction

See all formats and editions

Price

New from

Used from

Kindle

"Please retry"

$9.99

—

Audible Audiobook, Unabridged

"Please retry"

$7.00

$7.95 with discounted Audible membership

Hardcover

"Please retry"

$11.05

$5.55

Paperback

"Please retry"

$12.49

$8.25

$4.46

Audio CD

"Please retry"

$22.74

$10.96

Kindle
$9.99 Read with Our Free App
Audiobook
$7.00 $7.00 with Audible Premium Plus to get this title
Hardcover
$11.05

5 Used from $5.55 1 New from $11.05
Paperback
$12.49

30 Used from $4.46 24 New from $8.25
Audio CD
$22.74

1 Used from $10.96 2 New from $22.74

Enhance your purchase

World-renowned Shakespeare scholar Stephen Greenblatt explores the playwright's insight into bad (and often mad) rulers. As an aging, tenacious Elizabeth I clung to power, a talented playwright probed the social causes, the psychological roots, and the twisted consequences of tyranny. In exploring the psyche (and psychoses) of the likes of Richard III, Macbeth, Lear, Coriolanus, and the societies they rule over, Stephen Greenblatt illuminates the ways in which William Shakespeare delved into the lust for absolute power and the catastrophic consequences of its execution. Cherished institutions seem fragile, political classes are in disarray, economic misery fuels populist anger, people knowingly accept being lied to, partisan rancor dominates, spectacular indecency rules-these aspects of a society in crisis fascinated Shakespeare and shaped some of his most memorable plays. With uncanny insight, he shone a spotlight on the infantile psychology and unquenchable narcissistic appetites of demagogues-and the cynicism and opportunism of the various enablers and hangers-on who surround them-and imagined how they might be stopped. As Greenblatt shows, Shakespeare's work, in this as in so many other ways, remains vitally relevant today.

Print length

1 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Recorded Books, Inc. and Blackstone Publishing
Publication date

May 15, 2018
ISBN-10

1664471324
ISBN-13

978-1664471320
See all details

Stephen Greenblatt
1,670
Paperback
180 offers from $1.49
Stephen Greenblatt
235
Hardcover
134 offers from $0.58
Stephen Greenblatt
42
Paperback
34 offers from $8.19
Harold Bloom
323
Paperback
182 offers from $1.75
Stephen Greenblatt
163
Hardcover
22 offers from $72.91
Stephen Greenblatt
564
Paperback
66 offers from $4.07

Stephen Greenblatt
1,670
Paperback
180 offers from $1.49
Stephen Greenblatt
564
Hardcover
251 offers from $1.75
Stephen Greenblatt
235
Hardcover
134 offers from $0.58
James Shapiro
564
Paperback
61 offers from $4.62
Stephen Greenblatt
42
Paperback
34 offers from $8.19
Stephen Greenblatt
24
Paperback
59 offers from $1.25

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Stephen Greenblatt, PhD, is Cogan University Professor of the Humanities at Harvard University. General editor of The Norton Shakespeare, he is also the author of several books. He has edited seven collections of criticism, including Cultural Mobility: A Manifesto, and is a founding coeditor of the journal Representations. His honors include the MLAs James Russell Lowell Prize for Shakespearean Negotiations: The Circulation of Social Energy in Renaissance England, the Distinguished Humanist Award from the Mellon Foundation, the Wilbur Cross Medal from the Yale University Graduate School, the William Shakespeare Award for Classical Theatre, the Erasmus Institute Prize, two Guggenheim Fellowships, and the Distinguished Teaching Award from the University of California, Berkeley. He was president of the Modern Language Association of America and is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, and the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Start reading Tyrant: Shakespeare on Politics on your Kindle in under a minute.

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Recorded Books, Inc. and Blackstone Publishing; Unabridged edition (May 15, 2018)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Audio CD ‏ : ‎ 1 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1664471324
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1664471320

Best Sellers Rank: #6,202,236 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #76,553 in Books on CD

Customer Reviews:
385 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Stephen Greenblatt

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Stephen Greenblatt is Cogan University Professor of the Humanities at Harvard University. General Editor of The Norton Anthology of English Literature and The Norton Shakespeare, he is also the author of thirteen books, including The Rise and Fall of Adam and Eve; The Swerve: How the World Became Modern; Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare; Hamlet in Purgatory; Practicing New Historicism; Marvelous Possessions: The Wonder of the New World; and Learning to Curse: Essays in Early Modern Culture. He has edited six collections of criticism, is the co-author (with Charles Mee) of a play, Cardenio, and is a founding coeditor of the journal Representations. He was named the 2016 Holberg Prize Laureate. Additional honors include the MLA's James Russell Lowell Prize, for Shakespearean Negotiations: The Circulation of Social Energy in Renaissance England, the Distinguished Humanist Award from the Mellon Foundation, and the Distinguished Teaching Award from the University of California, Berkeley. He was president of the Modern Language Association of America and has been elected to membership in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the American Philosophical Society.

Customer reviews

5 star		74%
4 star		16%
3 star		7%
2 star		2%
1 star		1%

How customer reviews and ratings work

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Thomas H Kloecker

The content is excellent, which is the same in both

Reviewed in the United States on June 22, 2018

Verified Purchase

Just so you know, Tyrant: Shakespeare on Power is the same book as Tyrant: Shakespeare on Politics. The one with Power in the title is published in the UK (and ships from the UK) and the one with Politics in the title is published by W.W. Norton in the USA. They have different ISBN numbers. But the ONLY difference in the two is the one word in the title of the book. Amazon does not make it clear that the two are the same book, and you'd be forgiven if you ordered both thinking you'd be getting two different books. The content is excellent, which is the same in both, though.

70 people found this helpful

Helpful

Amy

Great Examination of Shakespeare's Tyrants

Reviewed in the United States on June 14, 2018

Verified Purchase

Tyrant is an examination of Shakespeare's exploration of government, society, and tyrannical figures throughout his plays. Chapters are sorted by topic (the influence of party politics on the rise of tyrants, the abuse for populism for political gain, the types and importance of enablers, the influence of personality and mental illness on tyrannical behavior, etcetera) and tend to examine one or two plays/characters at a time, complete with helpful quotations citing act, scene, and line. I only vaguely remember reading Hamlet and Macbeth in highschool, and was pleasantly surprised with how much I learned about the plays themselves over the course of Tyrant. I was also thankful that Greenblatt included so much information regarding the historical context of elizabethan England; it added a lot to my appreciation of the playwright's angled exploration of issues of power, something that weighed on everyone's mind, though it was something that could not be openly spoken of for fear of treason accusations. When a work is removed from its historical context, a vital part necessary for understanding the text is lost. The political landscape of near omnipotent kings and queens and the shifting tides of power between royal houses is an extremely important part of Shakespeare's plays that is only seen in its historical context, and that is something that most people do not stop to consider.

Some other reviews complain that Tyrant is a thinly veiled criticism of Trump and the Trump administration, but that is not because Greenblatt wrote a criticism of Trump and called an examination of Shakespeare. It is because Greenblatt wrote about Shakespeare's criticism of tyrants. If you don't think Trump is a budding tyrant but still see the parallels to tyrannical characters, perhaps you should think about that connection more.

All in all, Tyrant is a very well written work on Shakespeare's characters, plays, and the playwright's exploration of political power and I would recommend it.

52 people found this helpful

Helpful

Daniel Burton

The most enjoyable way to learn about tyranny

Reviewed in the United States on March 31, 2019

Verified Purchase

Rarely have I enjoyed a piece of political commentary as much as I did Stephen Greenblatt’s Tyrant: Shakespeare on Politics.

In William Shakespeare’s day, it wasn’t safe to disagree with power. Unlike today’s America, with the protections of the First Amendment, his world was governed by the near-absolute power of the monarch, the aging Queen Elizabeth. And speaking ill of the queen led to swift and often deadly punishment. Instead, the Bard through his plays would examine the ways and means of tyranny, delving into the past and into foreign lands to create his voices that could say what could not be said frankly (“Greenblatt is the Harvard Shakespeare expert who co-founded new historicism, the lit-crit practice that seeks to place works in their historical context.”)

In the vein of speaking obliquely, this is Greenblatt’s commentary on Donald Trump, though the president is not named in its pages. Instead, the Tyrant focuses on several of the same that appear in Shakespeare's plays, examining them in their foibles for the causes and results of their tyranny. The book is rooted in an article that Greenblatt wrote for the New York Times in 2016. At a friend’s encouragement, he expanded it to a full book. He focuses his examination on Macbeth, Richard III, Lear, Coriolanus and Leontes from A Winter’s Tale (notably leaving out Claudius, perhaps because he is more well-known than most).

While it is ostensibly a commentary on politics, it does not read like just another piece of political punditry or tribal drivel. On the contrary, Greenblatt makes Shakespeare accessible and, well, interesting, as well as providing principles that can be read and interpreted to apply to almost any power selfish politicians or businessman. Reading it is as enjoyable as watching Shakespeare performed well. As Constance Grady puts it in her review of the book, “There is a certain pleasure to watching Shakespeare’s tyrants work, to watching Richard III brazenly woo Lady Anne over the body of a man he killed or listening to Macbeth’s mournful, poetic speeches.”

Perhaps the biggest observation for me, and where the book most departs from other books that more directly take on Trump, is that Tyrant leaves the reader to make his own observations and conclusions. Here is what a tyrant does; is this what we are living through?

25 people found this helpful

Helpful

Thomas H Kloecker

Excellent read. For your information

Reviewed in the United States on June 23, 2018

Verified Purchase

Excellent read. For your information, Amazon also sells the same book but with a different ISBN number and different title. The only difference is one word in the title: Tyrant: Shakespeare on POWER is published in the UK and ships from there. Tyrant: Shakespeare on POLITICS is published by W.W. Norton in the States. Both are identical except for the one word in the title. If you order both books thinking they are different, you will receive, for all purposes, the same book.

39 people found this helpful

Helpful

Paul M.

Brilliant look at two worlds on the same path.

Reviewed in the United States on July 11, 2018

Verified Purchase

Spot on in so many ways. An excellent Shakespeare read as well, and perhaps more importantly, a stunning look at the US today, its "leader" on the way to becoming its "tyrant" and, more subtly, an examination of the underpinnings of the society that not only tolerates it, but seems to delight in it. "It" being the unraveling of what was once the world's supreme democracy.
A good if chilling look at how deeply Shakespeare could look into the soul of ANY country and its people.

13 people found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Ms Louise Wilford

Very interesting but too short

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 2, 2018

Verified Purchase

Great book - extremely interesting and well-written without requiring any in-depth academic knowledge of Shakespeare beyond being a general Shakespeare fan. Greenblat draws subtle (and not so subtle) parallels with modern-day tyrants. It is an interesting and entertaining book for people like me who did Eng Lit at university and who now and again goes to see a Shakespeare play. Mid-brow rather than high-brow. My only criticism was that it is too short. The kindle edition ended at 79% - the rest was footnotes and acknowledgements. But the 79% passed far too quickly - it is simply a short book. It discusses the following Shakespearian 'tyrants': Richard III, King Lear, Macbeth, Coriolanus - there must be more that I've forgotten! Sorry. Overall, I enjoyed it while it lasted but I expected more.

3 people found this helpful

Chloe

Timely

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 29, 2018

Verified Purchase

A wonderful read. Shakespeare seen through the eyes of one tuned into the dilemmas of our own times. In this perspective Greenblatt gives sharp focus and insights into the plays that feature tyranny, and at the same time throws a light on the ebb and flow of current political life. I'm not sure it is comforting to be reminded that 'politics was ever thus' but I thoroughly enjoyed the terrific skill of Greenblatt's telling.

4 people found this helpful

von Nichthoven

The best book about Trump

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 27, 2019

Verified Purchase

Without ever mentioning the chap, this book demolished him and his enablers, flaw by flaw, while analysing Shakespeare’s own obsessions with tyranny.

2 people found this helpful

Geek Goddess

Interesting take on Shakespeare

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 28, 2019

Verified Purchase

Interesting if heavy handed book drawing parallels between Trump and Shakespeare's villains.

3 people found this helpful

Kindle Customer

A very interesting and easily engaging book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 31, 2019

Verified Purchase

Greenblatt gets to the heart of Shakespeare's political musings, which as he states still feel completely relevent in today's political climate. A very engaging read.

One person found this helpful

See all reviews