Shakespeare by Another Name : The Life of Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford, the Man Who Was Shakespeare

"The plays and poems of William Shakespeare have captivated the world from their first printings in the late sixteenth century. But in the centuries since the death of the man conventionally assumed to be the author of these immortal works - William Shakspere of Stratford, an actor and entrepreneur who had little education, never left England, and left behind not a single book or page from his pen - more and more questions have arisen about the true identity of their creator. Such prominent literary figures as Walt Whitman and Mark Twain have argued that the actor Shakspere was not, in fact, the author. In recent decades, increasing attention has focused on the Elizabethan court playwright Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford, of whom filmmaker and acclaimed Shakespearean dramatist Orson Welles once said, "I think Oxford wrote Shakespeare. If you don't, there are some awful funny coincidences to explain away."" "Now, in this biography, journalist Mark Anderson creates an unforgettable portrait of de Vere, a prominent courtier and quintessential Renaissance man, a scholar, spendthrift, scoundrel, cosmopolitan traveler, military adventurer, artistic patron, and prolific ghostwriter. Weaving together a wealth of evidence uncovered over ten years of exhaustive research, Anderson brings to life this ingenious and sometimes reckless figure who, when cast out from Elizabeth I's court in disgrace, pled his case to his queen through her favorite art form - the theater." "Throughout this narrative, "Shakespeare" by Another Name presents a wealth of mirrors between de Vere's life and the works of the Bard. He lived in Venice during his twenties - racking up debt with the city's money-lenders (The 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 his courtly disgrace (Much Ado About Nothing) as well as street fighting between his supporters and rivals (Romeo and Juliet)."--BOOK JACKET.

Journalist Mark Anderson has devoted more than a decade to researching the life of Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford, publishing articles on de Vere in Harper-'s, The Boston Globe, and on PBS.org. He has also been a contributing writer for Wired.