The Marlowe-Shakespeare Connection: A New Study of the Authorship Question

Though he incorporates some original conjectures of his own, Blumenfeld mostly weaves together evidence and arguments made by others over the past half century that the body of work largely considered the crown jewels of English literature were written by a dead man. Officially dead, anyway. The story involves a fake murder of Marlowe to keep the Inquisition from learning that he was a spy for the British government. Certain factions of the government, anyway. Evidence come from historical sources and from the plays themselves. Blumenfeld, based in Massachusetts, has other interests as well, namely education and literacy. Annotation ©2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

This book addresses the long-standing debate over the Shakespeare authorship problem and offers a daring solution: that the true author of the works attributed to Shakespeare was in fact poet and playwright Christopher Marlowe. The author suggests that Marlowe, supposedly killed in a tavern brawl in 1593, actually faked his own death in order to save himself from an inquisition and certain execution, then continued writing under the pseudonym of William Shakespeare. Citing substantial and compelling evidence, the author outlines several hypotheses to support his case, including the theory that several top people in Queen Elizabeth's government were involved in the plot to save Marlowe (who was reportedly a spy in the Secret Service.)