'The volume's distinguished editors, Paul Edmondson and Stanley Wells, have assembled a tight volume that both addresses the questions at the heart of the so-called authorship controversy and discusses the phenomenon in critically sophisticated ways.' Curtis Perry, SEL: Studies in English Literature 1500–1900
General introduction Paul Edmondson and Stanley Wells; Part I. Sceptics: Introduction to Part One Paul Edmondson and Stanley Wells; 1. The unreadable Delia Bacon Graham Holderness; 2. The case for Bacon Alan Stewart; 3. The case for Marlowe Charles Nicholl; 4. The life and theatrical interests of Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford Alan H. Nelson; 5. The unusual suspects Matt Kubus; Part II. Shakespeare as Author: Introduction to Part Two Paul Edmondson and Stanley Wells; 6. Theorizing Shakespeare's authorship Andrew Hadfield; 7. Allusions to Shakespeare to 1642 Stanley Wells; 8. Shakespeare as collaborator John Jowett; 9. Authorship and the evidence of stylometrics MacDonald P. Jackson; 10. What does textual evidence reveal about the author? James Mardock and Eric Rasmussen; 11. Shakespeare and Warwickshire David Kathman; 12. Shakespeare and school Carol Chillington Rutter; 13. Shakespeare tells lies Barbara Everett; Part III. A Cultural Phenomenon: Did Shakespeare Write Shakespeare?: Introduction to Part Three Paul Edmondson and Stanley Wells; 14. 'This palpable device': authorship and conspiracy in Shakespeare's life Kathleen E. McLuskie; 15. Amateurs and professionals: regendering Bacon Andrew Murphy; 16. Fictional treatments of Shakespeare's authorship Paul Franssen; 17. The declaration of reasonable doubt Stuart Hampton-Reeves; 18. 'There won't be puppets, will there?': 'Heroic' authorship and the cultural politics of Anonymous Douglas M. Lanier; 19. 'The Shakespeare establishment' and the Shakespeare authorship discussion Paul Edmondson; Afterword James Shapiro; A selected reading list Hardy M. Cook.