Table of Contents

I. A Canterbury Youth
1: Birth
2: Petty school and the parish
3: The King's School
II. Scholar and Spy
4: Corpus Christi College, Cambridge
5: Espionage
III. With Shakespeare, Kyd, and the Ralegh Circle
6: The Tamburlaine phenomenon
7: Doctor Faustus
8: A spy abroad
IV. Sexuality and Reckonings
9: The keen pleasures of sex
10: A little matter of murder

About the Author

Park Honan is Emeritus Professor at the School of English, University of Leeds. He has written biographies of William Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Matthew Arnold, and Robert Browning.

Reviews

This impressive volume must surely be recognised as the standard Marlowe biography Roger Hards, The Marlowe Society Newsletter Honan's great strength lies in his ability to capture the physical texture of Marlowe's world...Honan takes it apart with patience and sound judgement. J. P. D. Cooper, Times Literary Supplement 'By heaven, this is an excellent, necessary and hugely welcome book. Though it responsibly synthesises previous scholarship, brings new perspectives and enlivens old, its greatest achievement is this: it presents a Marlowe that the sane can live with.' The Independent on Sunday, Min Wild Honan's book is more than a fine piece if detective work revealing the seedy underbelly of Elizabethan England. It takes the reader on a round tour of Marlowe's work. Raymond Carr, The Spectator There's plenty of sparkle in this book. Andrew Dickson 'it is an elegantly written study which must now stand as the best overall biography of one of our most fascinating writers'. s 'a splendid book' Charles Nicholl, The Sunday Times 'Honan has some fascinating new material.' Leanda de Lisle, History Today 'Honan's addition to the fleet of books already written about Marlowe is constantly readable and adept at contextualising the history of Marlowe's times around this elusive figure who still fascinates today.' Dermot Bolger, Sunday Business Post, Dublin 'Honan frames the scant documentary evidence with great skill, carefully establishing the historical, religious and political context for each phase of Marlowe's career, and incorporating recent research that sheds more light on Marlowe's espionage career and murder.' William Grimes, New York Times a rich and subtle study, combining convincing scholarship with a fluidity and pace that will appeal to the general reader J.P.D. Cooper, TLS This is a rich and subtle study, combining convincing scholarship with a fluidity and pace that will appeal to the general reader. J.P.D. Cooper, TLS A superb biography...this is a deeply informed study. Park Honan, The Times Higher