Description:
A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice
A Kirkus Reviews, The Economist, The New Yorker, Library Journal, BookPage, Christian Science Monitor, and Chicago Public Library Best Book of 2025
One of the Washington Post's "Notable Works of Nonfiction" of 2025
One of NPR's "Books We Love" of 2025
One of Bookbub's Best Nonfiction of 2025
Featured in the Wall Street Journal Guide to Holiday Gift Books
"A rigorous and sparkling exploration of what makes an artist. Essential and addictive reading." --Maggie O'Farrell, author of Hamnet
Poor boy. Spy. Transgressor. Genius.
Brief description: Stephen Greenblatt is Cogan University Professor of the Humanities at Harvard University. A leading scholar of English Renaissance literature, he serves as general editor of The Norton Anthology of English Literature and The Norton Shakespeare. He is the author of fourteen books, including Dark Renaissance and the Pulitzer Prize- and National Book Award-winning The Swerve.
Review Quotes: In this thrilling and twisty tale, Greenblatt focuses on Christopher Marlowe, the shoemaker's son famed for provocative plays like "Doctor Faustus." With a denouement as propulsive as that of any spy novel, he brilliantly captures 16th-century England.-- "New York Times, Editors' Choice"