Synopses & Reviews
The debate over the true author of Shakespeareas body of work (some of which was published under the name aShake-spearea) began not long after the death of William Shakespeare, the obscure actor and entrepreneur from Stratford-upon-Avon who was conventionally assumed to be the author. There were natural doubts that an uneducated son of a glover who never left England and apparently owned no books could have produced some of the greatest works of Western literature. Early investigators into the mystery argued for such eminent figures as Christopher Marlowe or Francis Bacon as possible authors, but recent scholarship has turned to Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, as the true Shakespeare.
aShakespearea by Another Name is the first complete literary biography of Edward de Vere that tells the story of his action-packed lifeaas student, soldier, courtier, lawyer, political intriguer, sophisticate, traveler, and, above all, writerafinding in it the background material for all of Shakespeareas plays. Anderson brings to bear a wealth of new evidence, most notably de Vereas personal copy of the Bible (recently analyzed to show the correlation between his underlinings and the biblical allusions in Shakespeareas work) and has employed it all to at last give a complete portrait and background to the man who was aShakespeare.a BACKCOVER: aMakes a compelling case. . . . Andersonas demonstration of how de Vereas real life matches the characters and circumstances found in the plays attributed to Shakespeare is especially impressive.a
aTHE ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION
aDeserves serious attention. . . . Mr. Anderson shows there are myriad Shakespeare authorship connections for deVere.a
aTHE NEW YORK TIMES
aTantalizing parallels between the plays and Oxfordas life certainly exist. . . . Anderson has a knack for finding fishy aspects of the traditional view that Shakespeare was Shakespeare.a
aNEW YORK SUN
Review
"Makes a compelling case....Anderson's demonstration of how de Vere's real life matches the characters and circumstances found in the plays attributed to Shakespeare is especially impressive." Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Review
"Deserves serious attention....Mr. Anderson shows there are myriad Shakespeare authorship connectionsfor de Vere." New York Times
Review
"Tantalizing parallels between the plays and Oxford's life certainly exist....Anderson has a knack for finding fishy aspects of the traditional view that Shakespeare was Shakespeare." New York Sun
Synopsis
In this groundbreaking new biography, journalist Anderson weaves together evidence uncovered in ten years of research to offer tantalizing proof that Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford, actually created the timeless body of work attributed to William Shakespeare.
Synopsis
The debate over the true author of Shakespeare's body of work (some of which was published under the name Shake-speare) began not long after the death of William Shakespeare, the obscure actor and entrepreneur from Stratford-upon-Avon who was conventionally assumed to be the author. There were natural doubts that an uneducated son of a glover who never left England and apparently owned no books could have produced some of the greatest works of Western literature. Early investigators into the mystery argued for such eminent figures as Christopher Marlowe or Francis Bacon as possible authors, but recent scholarship has turned to Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, as the true Shakespeare.
Shakespeare by Another Name is the first complete literary biography of Edward de Vere that tells the story of his action-packed life as student, soldier, courtier, lawyer, political intriguer, sophisticate, traveler, and, above all, writer finding in it the background material for all of Shakespeare's plays. Anderson brings to bear a wealth of new evidence, most notably de Vere's personal copy of the Bible (recently analyzed to show the correlation between his underlinings and the biblical allusions in Shakespeare's work) and has employed it all to at last give a complete portrait and background to the man who was Shakespeare.
About the Author
Mark Anderson has been researching the life of Edward de Vere for more than a decade. His articles on de Vere have appeared in Harper's and The Boston Globe, and on the PBS Web site. His journalism has also been published in such magazines as Rolling Stone, Wired, and Science.
Exclusive Essay
Read an exclusive essay by Mark Anderson