Contested Will

By James Shapiro,

Book cover of Contested Will: Who Wrote Shakespeare?

Book description

For two hundred years after William Shakespeare's death, no one thought to argue that somebody else had written his plays.

Since then dozens of rival candidates - including The Earl of Oxford, Sir Francis Bacon and Christopher Marlowe - have been proposed as their true author. Contested Will unravels the…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked Contested Will as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Shakespeare scholars hate discussing the “authorship question” for the same reason astronomers hate discussing whether space aliens kidnap human beings. There is no real “question.” But because guessing who wrote the plays has become such a parlor game, James Shapiro took on the challenge. His book tells the crazy history of the “authorship question” and makes irrefutably clear that yes, the fellow from Stratford really did write those plays. This should settle the issue forever—but of course it won’t.

From Stephen's list on to understand Shakespeare and his times.

If you love Contested Will...

Ad

Book cover of Tap Dancing on Everest: A Young Doctor's Unlikely Adventure

Tap Dancing on Everest by Mimi Zieman,

Tap Dancing on Everest, part coming-of-age memoir, part true-survival adventure story, is about a young medical student, the daughter of a Holocaust survivor raised in N.Y.C., who battles self-doubt to serve as the doctor—and only woman—on a remote Everest climb in Tibet.

The team attempts a new route up…

Want books like Contested Will?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like Contested Will.

Browse books like Contested Will

Book cover of Shakespeare, Our Contemporary
Book cover of Soul of the Age: A Biography of the Mind of William Shakespeare
Book cover of Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,992

readers submitted
so far, will you?

Ad

📚 If you like Contested Will, you might also like...

Book cover of Norvel: An American Hero

Norvel by Kenneth F. Conklin,

NORVEL: An American Hero chronicles the remarkable life of Norvel Lee, a civil rights pioneer and Olympic athlete who challenged segregation in 1948 Virginia. Born in the Blue Ridge Mountains to working-class parents who valued education, Lee overcame Jim Crow laws and a speech impediment to achieve extraordinary success.

He…

Book cover of Bernardine's Shanghai Salon: The Story of the Doyenne of Old China

Bernardine's Shanghai Salon by Susan Blumberg-Kason,

Meet the Jewish salon host in 1930s Shanghai who brought together Chinese and expats around the arts as civil war erupted and World War II loomed on the horizon.

Bernardine Szold Fritz arrived in Shanghai in 1929 to marry her fourth husband. Only thirty-three years old, she found herself in…

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in William Shakespeare, conspiracy theories, and London?

London 873 books