Worlds Elsewhere: Journeys Around Shakespeare's Globe (Penguin Random House/Macmillan, 2015)
“A true travel book, of the best kind” New York Times
“At once travelogue, history, literary analysis and love song” Wall Street Journal
“Extraordinarily exhilarating” New Statesman
Anti-apartheid activist, Bollywood screenwriter, Nazi pin-up, hero of the Wild West: this is Shakespeare as you have never seen him before. No other writer’s work has been performed, translated, adapted and altered in such a remarkable variety of cultures and languages. But what is it about a man from Warwickshire who never once set foot outside England that has made him at home in so many places?
I spent the best part of four years travelling across four continents, six countries and 400 years to research Worlds Elsewhere, and it was a journey rich in insight and surprise. I stepped inside the air-conditioned vault deep beneath Capitol Hill where the world’s largest collection of First Folios is stored; discovered the shadowy history of Joseph Goebbels’s obsession with Shakespeare; and uncovered the true story behind the scuffed edition in which Nelson Mandela and fellow Robben Island prisoners inscribed their names.
Worlds Elsewhere was longlisted for the 2016 Hessell-Tiltman history prize and given the Society of Authors Michael Meyer award.
Praise for Worlds Elsewhere
“An extraordinarily exhilarating book, like no other Shakespeare criticism you have ever read. [Its] cross-cultural insights into Shakespeare are remarkable … illustrated by and interwoven with many human stories”
Margaret Drabble, New Statesman
“Wonderfully imaginative … a true travel book, of the best kind”
Simon Winchester, New York Times Book Review
“Beautifully written … at once travelogue, history, literary analysis and love song”
Jonathan Bate, Wall Street Journal
“Strikingly original, engagingly idiosyncratic … a substantial new contribution to Shakespeare scholarship”
Anthony Holden, Observer
“There were very few pages on which I didn’t learn something new or revelatory. A must-read for anyone interested in Shakespeare’s impact on people and politics around the globe”
James Shapiro, author of 1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare
“Immensely well-informed and highly readable. A revelatory journey of cultural exploration”
Professor Stanley Wells, General Editor of the Oxford and Penguin Shakespeares
“Beautifully assured … Dickson has the marvellous ability to keep from superimposing his own ideas about Shakespeare on the stories he unravels”
Supriya Nair, Mint (India)
“Brilliantly original. Absolutely engaging, witty and irresistible. What’s most remarkable: he’s said something new about Shakespeare”
Michael Pye, author of The Edge of the World
“Reveals the Bard in a new light … rousing and insightful”
Vikas Datta, Times of India
“Terrific … proves again that Shakespeare, whose themes of journeying and exile are prevalent and relevant, is not only for all time but has been performed everywhere”
Niall MacMonagle, Irish Independent, critics’ pick of 2015
“A tour de force by any standards, a fascinating blend of travelogue and Shakespearean research that reads like a detective story”
David Crystal, author of The Stories of English
The Globe Guide to Shakespeare (3rd edn, Profile/Pegasus)
Formerly the Rough Guide, my The Globe Guide to Shakespeare is the ultimate companion to Shakespeare's life and work, republished in an updated third edition for the 400th anniversary of the playwright's death in 2016 by Profile Books (UK) and Pegasus Books (US).
Coverage of all 39 plays, the Sonnets and the major narrative poems, including a synopsis, full character list, stage history and a critical essay for each.
Reviews of the best films and audio recordings on DVD and download, from Laurence Olivier to Baz Luhrmann, Kozintsev to Kurosawa.
In-depth feature essays on topics such as the authorship controversy, cross-dressing and Shakespearian forgeries.
Vivid accounts of Shakespeare's life and theatre, as well as biographical sketches of key collaborators and rivals.
Praise for The Globe Guide
"An amazing achievement – the book I turn to before seeing any new production."
Michael Billington, Guardian theatre critic
"Well-honed, stylish and thoroughly enjoyable."
Professor Stanley Wells, Chairman of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
"Handy, companionable and trustworthy ... a must-own volume that Bard veterans and apprentices alike will punish – and reward – with daily use."
Boyd Tonkin, Independent
"You couldn't wish for a more user-friendly, reliable guidebook ... I doff my Bardic cap to this fine achievement."
Anthony Holden, Daily Mail
"A reference work and more, which could hardly be bettered, strongly recommended to all students and playgoers."
Professor Jonathan Bate, co-editor of the RSC Shakespeare
Other books
I've contributed essays and articles to a number of other books, including The New Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare (Cambridge University Press, 2010), The Rough Guide to Classical Music (Penguin, 2010), as well as various academic titles.