Publisher's Synopsis
The Real-Life Mystery of William Shakespeare starts out in the year 1588 and moves forward and backward as it tries to solve the mystery of Shakespeare's whereabouts. It is thoroughly enjoyable, incredibly informative, and a well-researched book about William Shakespeare's lost years. If you thought you knew everything there is to know about Shakespeare, then you will enjoy this book. It is full of fresh thoughts and creative ideas. For example, why does the book start off in the year 1588? What happened then that was so critical to knowing about Shakespeare? You will find out. The summaries at the end of each chapter are incredibly helpful, and I can see students working on projects finding them to be very useful. The humor present throughout the work makes it a really enjoyable read.
Why Another Book on Shakespeare? Isn't He a Bit Over-rated?
Sometimes you will hear students say, "Shakespeare is overrated" or "Why can't the words be put into modern English?" Yet, most likely, students have also heard about the Italian renaissance. They might know Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Michelangelo, Titian, and Raphael. They were all part of the Italian Renaissance that happened in Europe between the years 1300 and 1600. The word "renaissance" means "rebirth" so between the years 1300 to 1600 a new way of thinking about the world replaced the old one. Question: why wasn't anyone from England a part of the renaissance? Answer: One Englishman actually DID travel to Italy in the late 1500's. Believe it or not, this man spoke fluent Italian and lived in Italy for over a year. He experienced the Italian renaissance first-hand and even stayed at the house of the painter Titian for two weeks. He wrote at least 13 plays that take place in Italy and changed the vocabulary of English with many Italian words. For example, he changed the Italian word "bandito" into the English "bandit".
And when you listen to the old English in Shakespeare's plays, it all seems authentic. The words of his characters ring true. Watching Shakespeare's plays you can almost imagine what it must have been like to have lived in Italy during the time of the Renaissance. For this reason, knowing more about the "real" William Shakespeare and where he went during his "lost" years is important. But for over 400 years, his whereabouts have remained a mystery -- that is, until now!
