Books of the Year 2013
We ask some of our leading historians to tell us about the books that they have found most stimulating over the past 12 months.
JUDITH FLANDERS
‘Who wrote Shakespeare?’ is right up there with ‘Who was Jack the Ripper?’ For far too long academics have scarcely troubled to respond to the doubters’ it-was-the-earl-in-the-library-with-a-candlestick version of literary Cluedo, but now editors Paul Edmonson’s and Stanley Wells’ Shakespeare Beyond Doubt: Evidence, Argument, Controversy (Cambridge University Press) have produced a satisfying response. From contributions on the local Stratford idiom that peppers Shakespeare’s plays, through manuscript analysis, to (my favourite) the theatrical craft that enabled small casts to successfully double roles, the book is thorough, rigorous, scholarly – and a lot of fun.
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