The Reckoning: The Murder of Christopher Marlowe [Hardcover]

Charles Nicholl (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1994

A first full-length investigation into the death of Christopher Marlowe, the sixteenth-century author tragically stabbed to death in a lodging house, reveals the secrets behind the enigmatic literary legend.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Elizabethan playwright-poet Marlowe was stabbed to death in 1593 at the age of 28, supposedly in a dispute over a tavern bill or "reckoning." In a painstaking piece of scholarship that reads like an intricate detective thriller, British author Nicholl argues that Marlowe was murderd by a court cabal orchestrated by Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, who viewed dramatist-spy Marlowe as an obstacle to his political ambitions. One of the three men with Marlowe the day he died, Nicholas Skeres, was a servant of Devereux; another, Robert Poley, was a government agent who earlier had played a major role in a covert operation to entrap and eliminate the imprisoned Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots. The third, a shady entrepreneur named Ingram Frizer, was the hit man. Nicholl, who goes much further than previous biographers in exploring Marlowe's connections to espionage, concludes that he was a government spy, recruited while a Cambridge student, who informed on subversive Catholic loyalists. Winner of both the British James Tait Black Prize for biography and the Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger Award, this highly speculative study provides an extraordinary glimpse of the seamy Elizabethan underworld of espionage replete with double agents, disinformation, torture and murder. Illustrated.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Controversy has surrounded Marlowe in death as well as in life. A contemporary of Shakespeare, Marlowe is remembered primarily as an English poet and author of Dr. Faustus and The Jew of Malta , plays still performed today. This book plunges readers into the 16th-century world of spies, conspiracy, and political intrigue, as Nicholl, a British author of travel books, investigates the conditions and reasons for Marlowe's death by stabbing at age 23, challenging the commonly held "tavern brawl" theory over the "recknynge" of the bill. Nicholl reveals new evidence that points to a smear campaign and frame-up, resulting in murder sanctioned by those high up in the government. A remarkable piece of scholarship, this work carefully reconstructs the events leading up to the murder with all the excitement and suspense of a modern mystery novel; at the same time it vividly conveys the energy and color of Elizabethan England. Recommended for scholars and informed readers.
- Nancy R. Ives, SUNY at Geneseo
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 413 pages
• Publisher: Harcourt; 1st edition (March 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0151759812
• ISBN-13: 978-0151759811
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,132,795 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superbly written and entertaining, July 23, 2002

By A Customer

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This review is from: The Reckoning: The Murder of Christopher Marlowe (Paperback)

Contrary to what one reviewer (if we can use that word, since he or she obviously didn't read the book) says, the mystery of Marlowe's death has not ceased to be fascinating. There are several reasons for this, as Nicholl makes abundantly clear: first, the debt owed to any human being whose death has not been clarified; second, the light this murder throws on the workings of the Elizabethan espionage system, and Marlowe's relation to it; third, the fact that he wasn't just anyone - he was a gifted writer, and we all lost something by his dying so young.

Nicholl's work leaves nothing to be desired: it is at the same time scholarly and awfully entertaining. The man obviously knows his subject. The Marlowe that emerges is not the brilliant if somewhat rebellious youth that we used to think of, but a less likeable, more unsavoury character. But, as Nicholl says somewhere in the book, can we really burden him with the weight of our own expectations? He was a man of his time, and, although we might regret having to put the spy side by side with the playwright, he may not have seen it that way: it was a question of going or not going hungry. I would say that I altogether prefer the fuller picture, even if it's not the most pleasant one.

"The Reckoning" is abundantly researched and very well written, and is one of the few books I have lately read, which I did not want to finish.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Poetry, Espionage and Murder, July 4, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Reckoning: The Murder of Christopher Marlowe (Paperback)

The death (possible murder) of Christopher Marlowe is one of the most fascinating of all true crimes. Set in Elizabethan London with a cast of characters that include William Shakespeare, "The Reckoning" provides a intriguing explantion for the events of that strange day when after hours of drink and talk, Kit Marlowe ended up dead, stabbed through the eye. The official story: a quarrel over the bill or reckoning. But mix in politics, espionage (Marlowe was a spy), homosexuality and literary genuis and the official story gets shaken to its tidy core. This is a very fine work, thoughtful, well-researched and crisp, capturing the time and place effectively and believably, and providing a rational context for the known events. Apart from the loss of Marlowe's death at the height of his genius, the story provides a compelling view of the murkier side of life among the young bloods of the aging Elizabeth's world. Not only a class A unsolved mystery, "The Reckoning" is also important resource for serious readers of late 16th c. poetry and drama. NB: Marlowe is the only playwrite Shakespeare quoted in one of his own works -- a sign of respectful rivalry.

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars nice little historical who dun it! utterly brilliant work, November 23, 2003

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Deborah MacGillivray "Author," (US & UK) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Reckoning: The Murder of Christopher Marlowe (Paperback)

I love history and all the details. I also love riddles and mysteries. So, when someone combines both into a tale, as Charles Nicholl did, it's bound to please me. This book is the Winner of the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for biography and the Crime Writers' Gold Dagger Awards for non-fiction thriller - both well earned!!

Marlowe was a very controversial poet and playwright. In 1593, he was stabbed to death in a lodging house in Deptford. To say the least, the manner and circumstances of death was up to question. There was a violent quarrel concerning Marlowe's bill and the official finding has been called dubious at best.

Nicholl brings to life this historical riddle with style and ingenuity weaving facts, supposition and fiction into one wonderful mix. He presents a very complex study of Marlowe's death, but it is also a marvellous study of the seedier side of Elizabethan society.

Nicholl walks the masterful tightrope between historical study on Marlowe's murder, a well-written 'who dun it' and portrays with rich detail the period that leaves one wondering if he is not reincarnated!!

So buy it for the history, writers need to read it if they write about the period for it is also a scholarly work, but most of all sit back and enjoy a real British Who do it.