North by Shakespeare: A Rogue Scholar’s Quest for the Truth Behind the Bard’s Work

If the title alone doesn’t make you want to read this, then I don’t know what will.

North by Shakespeare: A Rogue Scholar’s Quest for the Truth Behind the Bard’s Work by Michael Blanding explores a radical, or not so radical really, when you consider all the evidence, the theory behind the writing of the plays.

For readers who love the Bard, whether we believe the plays to be written by the man himself, the Duke of Oxford, or even Queen Elizabeth, this expands our understanding of how the most iconic plays ever written possibly came into existence. As the duel narratives of Sir Thomas North, a colorful Elizabethan nobleman, and “rogue scholar” Dennis McCarthy, twine around each other, McCarthy uses plagiarism software to find North’s work inside plays attributed to Shakespeare. The dramatic lives of both men are cleverly illustrated by journalist Michael Blanding, who creates a tense, readable book exploring a bold theory—that Shakespeare adapted his work from source plays written by Thomas North—and the bolder actions are taken to present them to Shakespeare scholars.

This fascinating book adds to the narrative behind Shakespeare and presents evidence that may change the way readers see the works forever.