The Quest for Shakespeare

Highly regarded and best-selling literary writer and teacher, Joseph Pearce presents a stimulating and vivid biography of the world's most revered writer that is sure to be controversial. Unabashedly provocative, with scholarship, insight and keen observation, Pearce strives to separate historical fact from fiction about the beloved Bard. 'Shakespeare is not only one of the greatest figures in human history, he is also one of the most controversial and one of the most elusive. He is famous and yet almost unknown. Who was he? What were his beliefs? Can we really understand his plays and his poetry if we don't know the man who wrote them? 'These are some of the questions that are asked and answered in this gripping and engaging study of the world's greatest ever poet. The Quest for Shakespeare claims that books about the Bard have got him totally wrong. They misread the man and misread the work. The true Shakespeare has eluded the grasp of the critics. Dealing with the facts of Shakespeare's life and times, Pearce's quest leads to the inescapable conclusion that Shakespeare was a believing Catholic living in very anti-Catholic times. 'Many of his friends and family were persecuted, and even executed, for their Catholic faith. And yet he seems to have avoided any notable persecution himself. How did he do this? How did he respond to the persecution of his friends and family? What did he say about the dreadful and intolerant times in which he found himself? The Quest for Shakespeare answers these questions in ways that will enlighten and astonish those who love Shakespeare's work, and that will shock and outrage many of his critics. This book is full of surprises for beginner and expert alike. ' Click here to see The Quest for Shakespeare website! '“Joseph Pearce writes piercingly brilliant books. This'is one of them. He usually writes dramatic biographies.'This is not one of them. It is not a biography'and it is the least dramatic book he has written. But it'is also the most important one. To see its importance, 'try the following thought-experiment. Imagine a'book that convincingly proved that Homer was a'Jew, or that Milton was a lapsed Catholic, or that'Dante was a proto-Protestant. The idea would have'far-ranging consequences. It would cast a new light'on everything we knew about Homer, or Milton, or'Dante. In his next book Pearce will trace the consequences'of Shakespeare's Catholicism in his plays.'In this book, he proves it historically. I mean proves'it. (Pearce would make a formidable lawyer.) The'evidence is simply overwhelming.� '" Peter Kreeft, Ph.D., Boston College, 'Author, Summa of the Summa '“I've long suspected that there was a deep Catholic'sensibility in the plays of Shakespeare " an emphasis'on man's powerlessness without grace, yet also'an openness to the sacramentality of na