From Shakespeare to Obama discusses language, slavery, and place from the Portuguese enslavement of African people, through the public and private in Shakespeare's poems and plays, to President Obama's 2012 speech on "modern slavery." Balancing close reading with context, Jonathan Hart offers new insight into questions of otherness, rhetoric, and stereotyping. Ultimately, this expansive book contributes to the ongoing study of the relation between history and literature. --Amazon.com.