“Shakespeare”, by Michael Wood

352 pages, Basic Books, ISBN-13: 978-0465092642

So, it turns out that Shakespeare by Michael Wood is in fact a companion work to a televised special he did back in, oh, 2003 or so. That I didn’t see. But no matter: his book works just as well as a stand-alone work as it does as a companion piece (I imagine), so you won’t be wasting your money buying it. Wood’s biography of Shakespeare has a number of strong points: the images are numerous and very good, the writing is lively and the author spins a very engaging narrative. However (you knew a “however” was coming, didn’t you?), there are also some serious flaws: Wood conjures interesting possibilities and conjectures (his secret Catholicism, the identities of the Dark Lady and the young male subject of the sonnets, amongst others), which he then proceeds to write about as confirmed facts. I don’t fault him for the interesting ideas, but I find his treatment lacking in serious scholarship, a lack compounded by the absence of detailed notes on the sources of his provocative ideas. Good researchers should cite their research sources.

But perhaps that’s the reason, for many of Wood’s theories are, by now, old hat. The Life of Robert Southwell: Poet and Martyr by Christopher Devlin was published in 1956, and was the first work to speculate about his relationship with the Bard…not that Wood tells you that. Also, Shakespeare: The Lost Years by E.A.J. Honigmann was first published in 1985, and first brought to light many of the theories expounded upon by Wood…not that Wood tells you that, either. I won’t go on, but suffice to say this is more an assembly of facts that a piece of original work, one that does precious little to share the glory with previous authors (at least there is no Oxfordian nonsense here: Wood is satisfied that the man from Stratford-upon-Avon is the author of the plays, and not some spoiled Tudor aristocrat). Oh, well, it is what it is: a well-written conglomeration of facts and details made more interesting by all the pretty pictures and the convenience of having it all assembled in one book. I don’t regret the $7 I shelled out for it at all.