The Reckoning
The Murder of Christopher Marlowe
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Vintage Publishing
Published:3rd Oct '02
Should be back in stock very soon

'A masterpiece of biographical investigation' Richard Holmes
The circumstances were shady, the official account - a violent quarrel over the bill, or 'recknynge' - long regarded as dubious.
For the first time tracing Marlowe's shadowy political and intelligence dealings, Charles Nicholl uncovers critical new evidence about that fatal day.
In 1593, the brilliant and controversial young playwright Christopher Marlowe was stabbed to death in a Deptford lodging house. The circumstances were shady, the official account - a violent quarrel over the bill, or 'recknynge' - long regarded as dubious.
For the first time tracing Marlowe's shadowy political and intelligence dealings, Charles Nicholl uncovers critical new evidence about that fatal day. Also providing an enthralling revelation of the extraordinary underworld of Elizabethan crime and espionage, the 'secret theatre', Nicholl penetrates four centuries of obscurity to expose a complex and chilling story of entrapment and betrayal.
An absorbing detective story with many twists and dark secrets. It is a passionate tale that haunts the imagination -- Michael Sheldon * Daily Telegraph, Books of the Year *
Remarkable...for the first time reveals the true mystery of his death... Extraordinary * The Times *
A book full of wit, scholarship and ingenuity... Extraordinary -- Colm Toibin * Irish Times *
A remarkable academic thriller, a brilliant recontruction -- Michael Coveney * Observer *
This book blows open the world of Elizabethan espionage, and presents the most comprehensive case yet for disbelieving the official inquest * Independent *
This masterly construction of Marlowe’s murder kept me up all night when I first read it 20 years ago -- Thomas Wright * The List *
ISBN: 9780099437475
Dimensions: 198mm x 129mm x 32mm
Weight: 444g
608 pages