Shakespeare--who was he?
Subtitle: the Oxford challenge to the Bard of Avon
By: Richard F. Whalen ; foreword by Paul H. Nitze.
Publisher: Praeger
Published: 1994
Place of publication: Westport, Conn
Language: eng
Number of pages: 183
Subjects: Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 -- Authorship -- Oxford theory.; Oxford, Edward De Vere, Earl of, 1550-1604 -- Authorship.; Dramatists, English -- Early modern, 1500-1700 -- Biography.; Nobility -- Great Britain -- Biography.; Playwriting.
Description: William Shakespeare is the only literary figure whose very identity is a matter of long-standing and continuing dispute. Was he really the glover's son from Stratford-on-Avon? Or was he someone else writing under the pseudonym William Shakespeare?

The question has been called the foremost literary problem in world literature and "history's biggest literary whodunnit." Interest in it has never been greater, and that interest is growing now that a consensus has formed for Edward de Vere, the seventeenth earl of Oxford, as the leading candidate.

Whalen's book is the first to provide a clear, concise, readable summary for the general reader, one that analyzes the main arguments for both the man from Stratford-on-Avon and the earl of Oxford. His conclusion? The case for Oxford is much more persuasive. This book will be required reading for those who love Shakespeare and want to know more about why the authorship controversy persists.

The main narrative, which takes the reader easily through the pros and cons for each man, is supplemented by extensive, entertaining endnotes and appendixes, plus a comprehensive, annotated bibliography.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [171]-178) and index.