Shakespeare's Lost Kingdom : The True History of Shakespeare and Elizabeth

"Beauclerk's learned, deep scholarship, compelling research, engaging style and convincing interpretation won me completely. He has made me view the whole Elizabethan world afresh. The plays glow with new life, exciting and real, infused with the soul of a man too long denied his inheritance."- Sir Derek Jacobi"This is a book for anyone who loves Shakespeare. No matter who you think may have created the works of Shakespeare, the Earl of Oxford's mysterious life, and that of his Queen, must be near the heart and source of the creation. Three cheers for Mr. Beauclerk's daring to explore one of the most scandalous and potentially revolutionary theories about the authorship of these immortal works."- Mark Rylance"An extraordinary and controversial interpretation of Shakespeare's origins, which certainly provokes much thought. A radical analysis of Shakespeare's text, leading to a conclusion which is bound to amaze the reader and the scholar. Who was Shakespeare?- Steven BerkoffWho was the man behind Hamlet, Romeo, Falstaff and Lear? And why did he write, 'I, once gone, to all the world must die'?In this ground-breaking work Charles Beauclerk moves beyond the narrow confines of traditional Shakespearean scholarship to explore the political milieu in which Shakespeare lived and worked and the life-and-death struggle he underwent in the name of his 'cause'. In doing so, he humanizes the bard who for centuries has remained beyond our grasp.The story revealed is one of betrayal and sacrifice at the heart of government, with Shakespeare forced to fight both for the survival of his works-and his very identity. The official history, that of a barely educated genius writing in isolation and a virginal queen married to her country, is exposed as artful propaganda.Shakespeare's Lost Kingdom delves deep into the conflicts and personalities of Elizabethan England, and the plays themselves, to cast new light on the greatest and most mysterious artist the world has known.... It is perhaps the greatest story never told: the truth behind the most enduring works of literature in the English language, perhaps in any language. Who was the man behind Hamlet, King Lear, and the Sonnets? What passion, what pain, what love inspired words so potent that "not marble, nor the gilded monuments / Of princes, shall outlive this powerful rhyme"? In Shakespeare's Lost Kingdom, critically acclaimed historian Charles Beauclerk pulls off an enchanting feat, humanizing the bard who for centuries has remained beyond our grasp. Beauclerk, the founder of the De Vere Society, former president of the Shakespeare Oxford Society, and trustee of the Shakespearean Authorship Trust, has spent more than two decades researching the authorship question. If the plays and poems of Shakespeare were discovered today, he argues, we would see them for what they are -- shocking political works written by a court insider, someone whose status and anonymity shielded him from punishment in an unstable time of Armada and Reformation. A satirical writer as trenchant as "Shake-speare" would not have kept his head for long without the monarch's indulgence. But the author's unique status and identity were quickly swept under the rug after his death. The official history -- of an uneducated Stratfordian merchant writing in near obscurity, and of a virginal queen married to her country -- dominated for centuries. Questions about the authorship of the plays and poems, however, never went away. Writers and critics, actors and scholars including Mark Twain, James Joyce, Sigmund Freud, Charlie Chaplin, Orson Welles, Maxwell Perkins, and Supreme Court justices Harry Blackmun and John Paul Stevens have struggled to reconcile England's "Star of Poets" with the grain merchant from Stratford. Beauclerk traces the history of this fascinating question and the efforts to solve it, including the work of an English schoolteacher who, using techniques akin to an FBI profiler, deduced who among the Elizabethans could possibly have written such informed and sophisticated works. Shakespeare's Lost Kingdom delves deep into the conflicts and personalities of Elizabethan England as well as into the plays themselves to tell the true story of the "Soul of the Age." From the queen whose sexual escapades threatened to tear the curtain from the royal stage, to the poet whose identity crisis fueled a body of incomparable works, and the controversy that survived both of them, sringing up again and again through the centuries, this is a compelling, convincing history. You'll never look at Shakespeare the same way again. - Jacket flap. Cover Page; Title Page; Copyright Page; Dedication; Contents; Preface; Part One: Child of State; 1. Truth's Authentic Author; 2. Blighted Rose; 3. Budding Genius; Part Two: Prodigal Son; 4. Consort of the Goddess; 5. England's Literary Champion; 6. Identity Crisis; Part Three: Fall from Grace; 7. Love's Labours Lost; 8. Compassing the Crown; 9. A Life of Exile; Part Four: Outcast King; 10. The Very Pattern of Woe; 11. Redeeming the Wasteland; 12. Family of the Rose; 13. Final Sacrifice; Acknowledgments; Notes; Bibliography; Illustration Credits; Index;It is perhaps the greatest story never told: the truth behind the most-enduring works of literature in the English language, perhaps in any language. Who was the man behind Hamlet' What passion inspired the sonnets, whose words were so powerful that "not marble, nor the gilded monuments Of princes, shall outlive this powerful rhyme"' In Shakespeare's Lost Kingdom, critically acclaimed historian Charles Beauclerk pulls off an astounding feat, humanizing the Bard who for centuries has remained beyond our grasp. Beauclerk has spent more than two decades researching the authorship question, and if the plays were discovered today, he argues, we would see them for what they are'shocking political works written by a court insider, someone with the monarch's indulgence, shielded from repression in an unstable time of armada and reformation. But the author's identity was quickly swept under the rug after his death. The official history'of an uneducated merchant writing in near obscurity, and of a virginal queen married to her country'dominated for centuries. Shakespeare's Lost Kingdom delves deep into the conflicts and personalities of Elizabethan England, as well as the plays themselves, to tell the true story of the "Soul of the Age." “A book for anyone who loves Shakespeare . . . One of the most scandalous and potentially revolutionary theories about the authorship of these immortal works.” —Mark Rylance, First Artistic Director of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre It is perhaps the greatest story never told: the truth behind the most enduring works of literature in the English language, perhaps in any language. Who was William Shakespeare? Critically acclaimed historian Charles Beauclerk has spent more than two decades researching the authorship question, and if the plays were discovered today, he argues, we would see them for what they are—shocking political works written by a court insider, someone with the monarch’s indulgence, shielded from repression in an unstable time of armada and reformation. But the author’s identity was quickly swept under the rug after his death. The official history—of an uneducated merchant writing in near obscurity, and of a virginal queen married to her country—dominated for centuries. Shakespeare’s Lost Kingdom delves deep into the conflicts and personalities of Elizabethan England, as well as the plays themselves, to tell the true story of the “Soul of the Age.” “Beauclerk’s learned, deep scholarship, compelling research, engaging style and convincing interpretation won me completely. He has made me view the whole Elizabethan world afresh. The plays glow with new life, exciting and real, infused with the soul of a man too long denied his inheritance.” —Sir Derek Jacobi Beauclerk has spent more than two decades researching the authorship question, and he convincingly argues that if the plays and poems of "Shakespeare" were discovered today, we would see them for what they are--shocking political works written by a court insider, someone whose status and anonymity shielded him from repression in an unstable time of armada and reformation. But the author's unique status and identity were swept under the rug after his death. The official history--of an uneducated Stratfordian merchant writing in obscurity and of a virginal queen married to her country--dominated for centuries. "Shakespeare's Lost Kingdom" delves deep into the conflicts and personalities of Elizabethan England, as well as into the plays themselves, to tell the true story of the "Soul of the Age."