Shakespeare and His Authors


Book Description

The Shakespeare Authorship question - the question of who wrote Shakespeare's plays and who the man we know as Shakespeare was - is a subject which fascinates millions of people the world over and can be seen as a major cultural phenomenon. However, much discussion of the question exists on the very margins of academia, deemed by most Shakespearean academics as unimportant or, indeed, of interest only to conspiracy theorists. Yet, many academics find the Authorship question interesting and worthy of analysis in theoretical and philosophical terms. This collection brings together leading literary and cultural critics to explore the Authorship question as a social, cultural and even theological phenomenon and consider it in all its rich diversity and significance.




The Case for Shakespeare


Book Description

Demonstrates that William Shakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon really did write the plays and poems attributed to him via a literary forensics case that puts all other authorship theories to rest.




Contested Will


Book Description

Shakespeare scholar James Shapiro explains when and why so many people began to question whether Shakespeare wrote his plays.




Shakespeare's Unorthodox Biography


Book Description

It successfully argues that "William Shakespeare" was the pen name of an aristocrat, and that William Shakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon was a shrewd entrepreneur, not a dramatist."--BOOK JACKET.




AKA Shakespeare


Book Description




In Shakespeare's Shadow


Book Description

The true story of a self-taught sleuth's quest to prove his eye-opening theory about the source of the world's most famous plays, taking readers inside the vibrant era of Elizabethan England as well as the contemporary scene of Shakespeare scholars and obsessives. What if Shakespeare wrote Shakespeare . . . but someone else wrote him first? Acclaimed author of The Map Thief, Michael Blanding presents the twinning narratives of renegade scholar Dennis McCarthy and Elizabethan courtier Sir Thomas North. Unlike those who believe someone else secretly wrote Shakespeare, McCarthy argues that Shakespeare wrote the plays, but he adapted them from source plays written by North decades before. In Shakespeare's Shadow alternates between the enigmatic life of North, the intrigues of the Tudor court, the rivalries of English Renaissance theater, and academic outsider McCarthy's attempts to air his provocative ideas in the clubby world of Shakespearean scholarship. Through it all, Blanding employs his keen journalistic eye to craft a captivating drama, upending our understanding of the beloved playwright and his "singular genius." Winner of the 2021 International Book Award in Narrative Non-Fiction




Shakespeare Authorship Question


Book Description

"The Shakespeare Authorship Question: A Crackpot's View" is a quick, fun read that will leave you wondering why schools and colleges aren't teaching both sides of the Shakespeare story. Author and performer Keir Cutler is a "crackpot." More accurately, he has a "psychological aberration." He is also "ignorant," "a snob" and "a publicity hound." He has "a poor sense of logic," "refuses to accept evidence," and is possibly, "certifiably mad." Who calls him (and people like him) by those terms? The Shakespeare Birth Trust in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. Why? Because he questions whether the man from Stratford wrote the famous plays and poems. And even crazier, he contends that to many teachers and professors, Shakespeare has become a religion, and most schools would no more question Shakespeare's authorship than the Vatican would question Jesus Christ's divinity. There exists an impressive army of "crackpots" who doubt the traditional story of Shakespeare: Mark Twain, Sigmund Freud, James Joyce, Orson Welles, John Gielgud, Derek Jacobi, Michael York, Vanessa Redgrave, Jeremy Irons, Mark Rylance, former U.S. Supreme Court Justices John Paul Stevens and Sandra Day O'Connor, and the great writer and critic Henry James, who wrote: "I am haunted by the conviction that the divine William is the biggest and most successful fraud!" Whether the man from Stratford did or did not write the famous plays and poems, all students have a right to know, as Smithsonian Magazine has stated, "There are no original manuscripts. Not so much as a couplet written in Shakespeare's own hand has been proven to exist. In fact, there's no hard evidence that Will Shakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon (1564-1616), revered as the greatest author in the English language, could even write a complete sentence." "A Crackpot's View" is one man's attempt to bring critical thinking to an important subject. Strange that one has to be a "crackpot" to do it. This work is an absolute must for all lovers of Shakespeare, and believers in critical thinking! www.keircutler.com




Early Shakespeare Authorship Doubts


Book Description

This book examines dozens of early authorship doubts before the 1616 death of William Shakespeare of Stratford, including five separate indications that the true author of the works of ""Shakespeare"" (whoever that was) died years before 1616. This is the most sensational literary mystery of all time. The denial of these doubts by most orthodox scholars is an academic scandal of the first order. Wildenthal brings fresh insights and rigorously impartial scholarship to this controversial subject. He shows that these doubts were an authentic and integral part of the time and culture that produced the works of ""Shakespeare."" His book has been hailed by acclaimed author Alexander Waugh: ""Professor Wildenthal's witty and forensic tour de force examines the evidence of Shakespeare's contemporaries and what they really thought of him. Seldom is the argument against conventional opinion so devastatingly articulated.""




Shakespeare Beyond Doubt


Book Description

Did Shakespeare write Shakespeare? This authoritative collection of essays brings fresh perspectives to bear on an intriguing cultural phenomenon.




Who Wrote Shakespeare?


Book Description

Reprinted from 1st pbk. ed., published in 1999. Originally published in hardcover in 1996.