{"schema_version":"bf_book_companion_v1","release_id":"20260418T162306Z","book":{"amazon_purchase_url":"https://www.amazon.com/dp/0316493279?tag=bookfrontier-20","asin":"0316493279","authors":["Michael Blanding"],"book_id":"9780316493277","canonical_url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/in-shakespeare-s-shadow-0316493279","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780316493277.jpg?v=20260418T162306Z%3A2026-04-18T23%3A16%3A50Z","description":"The true story of a self-taught sleuth's quest to prove his eye-opening theory about the source of the world's most famous plays, taking readers inside the vibrant era of Elizabethan England as well as the contemporary scene of Shakespeare scholars and obsessives. What if Shakespeare wrote Shakespeare . . . but someone else wrote him first? Acclaimed author of The Map Thief , Michael Blanding presents the twinning narratives of renegade scholar Dennis McCarthy and Elizabethan courtier Sir Thomas North. Unlike those who believe someone else secretly wrote Shakespeare, McCarthy argues that Shakespeare wrote the plays, but he adapted them from source plays written by North decades before. In Shakespeare's Shadow alternates between the enigmatic life of North, the intrigues of the Tudor court, the rivalries of English Renaissance theater, and academic outsider McCarthy's attempts to air his provocative ideas in the clubby world of Shakespearean scholarship. Through it all, Blanding employs his keen journalistic eye to craft a captivating drama, upending our understanding of the beloved playwright and his \"singular genius.\" Winner of the 2021 International Book Award in Narrative Non-Fiction","forthcoming":false,"isbn13":"9780316493277","publication_date":"20220503","publisher":"Grand Central Publishing","slug":"in-shakespeare-s-shadow","subtitle":"A Rogue Scholar's Quest to Reveal the True Source Behind the World's Greatest Plays","title":"In Shakespeare's Shadow"},"discovery":{"categories":{"all":[{"bisac_code":"HIS015030","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Tudor & Elizabethan Britain","score":0.7715,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"PER011020","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Theater History & Criticism","score":0.7595,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"PER011030","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Playwriting","score":0.755,"source":"bisac_hint_model"}],"hint":[{"bisac_code":"HIS015030","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Tudor & Elizabethan Britain","score":0.7715,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"PER011020","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Theater History & Criticism","score":0.7595,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"PER011030","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Playwriting","score":0.755,"source":"bisac_hint_model"}],"publisher":[{"bisac_code":"HIS015030","confidence_band":"high","label":"Tudor & Elizabethan Britain","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"LIT004120","confidence_band":"high","label":"British & Irish Literary Criticism","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"LIT013000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Drama Criticism","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"LIT015000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Shakespeare Studies","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"PER011030","confidence_band":"high","label":"Playwriting","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"}]},"genres":[{"label":"Tudor & Elizabethan Britain","score":0.7715,"slug":"tudor-elizabethan-britain"},{"label":"Theater History & Criticism","score":0.7595,"slug":"theater-history-criticism"},{"label":"Playwriting","score":0.755,"slug":"playwriting"}],"reader_fit":["Good for readers who enjoy Tudor & Elizabethan Britain","Good for readers interested in historical","Good for readers who enjoy Tudor & Elizabethan Britain and Theater History & Criticism."],"related_lists":[],"series":null,"similar_books":[{"authors":["David Medina"],"book_id":"9781633311060","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781633311060.jpg?v=20260418T162306Z%3A2026-04-18T23%3A16%3A50Z","score":15.5187,"title":"Shakespeare's Greatest Love","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781633311060"},{"authors":["Richard Appignanesi","William Shakespeare","Mustashrik Mahbab","& 0 more"],"book_id":"9780810970724","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780810970724.jpg?v=20260418T162306Z%3A2026-04-18T23%3A16%3A50Z","score":13.2008,"title":"Manga Shakespeare","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780810970724"},{"authors":["Philippa Gregory"],"book_id":"9780063439689","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780063439689.jpg?v=20260418T162306Z%3A2026-04-18T23%3A16%3A50Z","score":12.7543,"title":"Boleyn Traitor","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780063439689"},{"authors":["Mr. Gareth Russell","Gareth Russell"],"book_id":"9781668049686","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781668049686.jpg?v=20260418T162306Z%3A2026-04-18T23%3A16%3A50Z","score":12.6231,"title":"The Six Loves of James I","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781668049686"},{"authors":["Stephen Greenblatt"],"book_id":"9780393882278","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780393882278.jpg?v=20260418T162306Z%3A2026-04-18T23%3A16%3A50Z","score":11.3788,"title":"Dark Renaissance","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780393882278"},{"authors":["Helen Castor"],"book_id":"9781982139216","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781982139216.jpg?v=20260418T162306Z%3A2026-04-18T23%3A16%3A50Z","score":10.4643,"title":"The Eagle and the Hart","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781982139216"}],"topics":[{"evidence_refs":["keyword:history"],"label":"History","score":0.9238,"slug":"history"},{"evidence_refs":["keyword:historical"],"label":"Historical","score":0.3003,"slug":"historical"},{"evidence_refs":["keyword:drama"],"label":"Drama","score":0.0527,"slug":"drama"},{"evidence_refs":["keyword:british"],"label":"British","score":0.0475,"slug":"british"}],"what_you_get":["Themes: History, Historical, Drama.","Reading lane: Tudor & Elizabethan Britain and Theater History & Criticism.","Publisher: Grand Central Publishing."]},"llm_signals":null,"source_presence":{"amazon":true,"book_detail":true,"goodreads":true,"llm_signals":false,"similarity_seed":true},"stats":{"amazon_ratings_count":110,"goodreads_ratings_count":201,"goodreads_reviews_count":60,"quality_score":0.9045}}