Who Killed Kit Marlowe?: A Contract to Murder in Elizabethan England

by Taliesin Trow and M.J. Trow

Book Overview

Kit Marlowe was the bad boy of Elizabethan drama. His 'mighty line' of iambic pentameter transformed the miracle plays of the Middle Ages into modern drama and he paved the way for Shakespeare and a... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0750926899
• ISBN13: 9780750926898
• Release Date: June 2001
• Publisher: Sutton Publishing
• Length: 278 Pages
• Weight: 1.34 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.4" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

conspiracy theories in Rennaissance England

Who Killed Kit Marlowe? By M.J. Trow and Taliesin Trow Review by R.Galu I have always been intensely curious about the middle ages as played out on the island from which has sprung the largest share of great minds the world has ever known. Crime novelist T.J. Trow has briefly opened a peep hole for history voyeurs such as myself and invited us a look. If books can produce a sound or a smell, I am sure I heard the shrieking cries of filthy inmates through the grates of old Clink prison as their pitiful pleas for mercy floated through the crowded streets of London. Well-traveled roads of the urban Rennaissance that meandered, sometimes on course with the murky Thames, often found their way to the play houses and the pubs of the writers, the scholars, and the thinking men; covert clubs where undoubtedly the seeds of conspiracies were planted and plans hatched in whispered voices swearing oaths but death to those who violate. One such scholar, to whom these favoured dark alleys often felt the weight of his boot, was a poet, a Cambridge man, known to his friends as Kit. To the rest of us, who speculate, dream, and debate, we will only know him as Christopher Marlowe; contemporary to Shakespeare. Author M.J.Trow, has put together in true crime style, all the little sketches of Marlowe's life of which there simply isn't enough. In an attempt to satisfy a real Rennaissance mystery full of intrigue, secret societies, a powerful queen, and murder, Trow performs admirably. Using a modern detective's eye, Trow looks 400 years behind him at a culture wrestling to break free of the unenlightened centuries stacked behind it. He provides the reader extra large snippets of Elizabethan society to aid him in this journey, and in a way that is often as meandering as the Thames, brings us to a great reckoning through his book: Who Killed Kit Marlowe? Potentially a playwright as great as Shakespeare, Marlowe was cut down in the prime of his life as his career, notoriety, and finesse with a quill had just crossed over from adept to brilliant. He left us wanting more and he left us wanting to know why he did not live long enough to give us our desire. This author is completely aware of the reader's wonder. His research seems skillful enough as he provides extensive notes and a lengthy bibliography, all the while supplying us with text carefully woven through the pubs, playhouses, and alleyways of Elizabethan London and the surrounding countryside. Understanding that he must dissect the theories that have gone before him, Trow's book is portioned into chapters starting with what is known about Marlowe, to what has been conjectured. His skepticism of old research is usually not without some original sources, historical prowess, and plain logic to lend the possibility that he might be on the right track. For example, Trow has expressed disappointment with other writers and what he believes to be their skimming-over of the true significance of the damning B

Quite an interesting book

On May 30, 1593, the acclaimed playwright Christopher "Kit" Marlowe (b.1564) died in the home of Eleanor Bull, having attacked another man over who would pay for the day's drinking. At least that's what the coroner ruled. The authors of this book believe that Marlowe earned an important someone's ire, and was murdered.The book follows Marlowe's life, as he lived in the turbulent Elizabethan England. In an often-rambling narrative, the authors meander from topic to topic, giving the reader a fascinating look into the seamy underside of this "Golden Age." In the final chapters, the authors examine competing theories concerning Marlowe's murder, and then present their own explanation.This is quite an interesting book. The authors reveal a great deal of information on Elizabethan England, the sort of information that you will not find in most history books. My one complaint is that the wandering narrative sometimes proves disturbing, making one wonder where the authors are going. But, that said, I did enjoy this book, and am glad that I read it.