First published 2013
The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust published a book declaring William Shakespeare's identity as author to be certain. This response from Alexander Waugh and fellow scholars dismantles that assertion. They argue the Trust's position crumbles under scrutiny and call for a televised mock trial to examine the evidence publicly. The authors contend that authorities have misled the public about the strength of their case for the Stratford man as the true author. Waugh presents the work as arriving at a crucial moment when orthodox defenders deceive people about their weak evidence. The book challenges readers to question established authority and demands fresh examination of who really wrote the plays and sonnets attributed to Shakespeare. A dozen contributors expose what they see as intellectual bankruptcy in traditional scholarship and push for honest debate about one of literature's most contested questions.
Genres: biography, history, literary-criticism, academic
Vibes: thought-provoking
Tropes: challenging-authority
Setting: Stratford
Period: 20th-century, 21st-century
280 pages · Paperback · Llumina Press