num_pages: 413
description: In 1593 the brilliant but controversial young playwright Christopher Marlowe was stabbed to death in a Deptford lodging house. The circumstances were shady, the official account—a violent quarrel over the bill, or "recknynge"—has been long regarded as dubious.Here, in a tour de force of scholarship and ingenuity, Charles Nicholl penetrates four centuries of obscurity to reveal not only a complex and unsettling story of entrapment and betrayal, chimerical plot and sordid felonies, but also a fascinating vision of the underside of the Elizabethan world."Provides the sheer enjoyment of fiction, and might just be true."—Michael Kenney, Boston Globe"Mr. Nicholl's glittering reconstruction of Marlowe's murder is only one of the many fascinating aspects of this book. Indeed, The Reckoning is equally compelling for its masterly evocation of a vanished world, a world of Elizabethan scholars, poets, con men, alchemists and spies, a world of Machiavellian malice, intrigue and dissent."—Michiko Kakutani, New York Times"The rich substance of the book is his detail, the thick texture of betrayal and evasion which was Marlowe's life."—Thomas Flanagan, Washington Post Book WorldWinner of the Crime Writer's Gold Dagger Award for Nonfiction Thriller
language: English
title: The Reckoning: The Murder of Christopher Marlowe
titlecomplete: The Reckoning: The Murder of Christopher Marlowe
genres: 16th Century, Historical, Biography, Espionage, Crime, Mystery, Nonfiction, True Crime, History, British Literature
ratings_count: 611
awards: awardedAt: 694252800000
name: James Tait Black Memorial Prize
category: Biography, awardedAt: 694252800000
name: ALCS Dagger for Non-fiction
publisher: University of Chicago Press