Shakespeare by Another Name

A Biography of Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford, the Man Who Was Shakespeare

By Anderson, Mark

Publishers Summary:
A triumph of literary detective work: the first popular biography of the adventurous Elizabethan earl whose life and letters indicate that he was the true author of the works of Shakespeare William Shaksper of Stratford was an actor and entrepreneur who had little education, never left England, and apparently owned no books. In the centuries since his death more and more questions have arisen about the true source of the plays and poetry conventionally attributed to him. Now journalist Mark Anderson’s page-turning and groundbreaking new biography "Shakespeare" by Another Name offers tantalizing proof that it was the 17th Earl of Oxford, Edward de Vere—a courtier, spendthrift, scholar, traveler, scoundrel, patron, and prolific ghostwriter of state propaganda—who actually created this timeless body of work. Weaving together a wealth of evidence uncovered in ten years of research, Anderson brings to life a colorful figure whose biography presents countless mirror images of the works of Shakespeare. De Vere lived in Venice during his twenties—racking up debt with the city’s money- lenders (Merchant of Venice); his notorious jealousy of his first wife spawned both self- critical works (Othello, The Winter’s Tale) and self-mocking japes (The Comedy of Errors); an extramarital affair led to courtly disgrace (Much Ado About Nothing) as well as street fighting between his supporters and rivals (Romeo and Juliet). Anderson contends that the only way de Vere’s compromising works— including brutally honest portraits of the powerful elite at Queen Elizabeth I’s court—could ever be published was under another man’s name

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ISBN
978-1-59240-103-1
Publisher
Gotham


REVIEWS

Library Journal

Reviewed on July 15, 2005

Anderson's debut is yet another tome intent on establishing Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford, as the "real" author of Shakespeare's works. Anderson, whose articles on de Vere have appeared in Harper's and the Boston Globe and on PBS.org, has spent an amazing amount of time and effort (more than a decade) researching this book. Unfortunately, his proof--made up of coincidence and circumstantial evidence (...Log In or Sign Up to Read More

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