What can Shakespeare's plays teach us about modern-day politics? Hear what SAIS Professor Eliot A. Cohen thinks in this conservation about his new book, “The Hollow Crown: Shakespeare on How Leaders Rise, Rule, and Fall,” with Elisabeth Long, Dean of Sheridan Libraries and University Museums.

Our live event at the Hopkins Bloomberg Center in Washington, D.C. included a show-and-tell display of rare Shakespeare treasures from Sheridan Libraries Special Collections.

The event served as the 2024 Paula Hamburger Endowed Lecture. It was hosted by the Friends of the Johns Hopkins Sheridan Libraries with video production support from Hopkins at Home and on-site book sales by East City Bookshop.

With nearly 700 members across the country, the Friends help the Sheridan Libraries advance knowledge to power Hopkins research and better the world through unrestricted gifts. Anyone who makes a gift to the Libraries, of any size, becomes a Friend. To learn more and make a gift, visit https://www.library.jhu.edu/giving/fr...



• About the Book • In “The Hollow Crown” (Basic Books, 2023) Eliot A. Cohen shows how Shakespeare’s works transform our understanding of the leaders who, for good or ill, make and rule our world. The White House, after all, is a court—with intrigue and conflict rivaling those on the Globe’s stage—as is an army, a business, or a university. And each court is full of driven characters, in all their ambition, cruelty, and humanity. Henry V’s inspiring speeches reframe John F. Kennedy’s appeal, Richard III’s wantonness illuminates Vladimir Putin’s brutality, and The Tempest’s grace offers a window into the presidency of George Washington.

• About the Author • Eliot A. Cohen is the Robert E. Osgood Professor at SAIS, where he has taught since 1990 and served as Dean from 2019 to 2021, and the Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. His books include “The Hollow Crown” (2023), “The Big Stick” (2017), “Conquered into Liberty” (2011), and “Supreme Command” (2002). In addition to public service in the Department of Defense, he served as Counselor of the Department of State from 2007 to 2009. He writes frequently for major newspapers and is a contributing writer at The Atlantic.


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