The Shakespeare Guide to Italy - by Richard Paul Roe (Paperback)

About the Book

Equal parts literary detective story and vivid travelogue, TheShakespeare Guide to Italy chronicles author Richard Paul Roe sthirty-year quest to find the locations in which Shakespeare set his tenItalian plays delivering a text which will forever change our understanding ofhow to read the Bard of Avon and irrevocably alter our vision of who WilliamShakespeare really was. More than 150 full-color images illustrate and enhanceRoe s captivating narrative, illuminating his lifelong journey and shining alight into the depths of Shakespeare s experiences in Italy. Until now, Shakespeare s use of Italian backdrops Romeo and Juliet s Verona, Othello sVenice, Much Ado About Nothing s Messina, to name a few has been thesource of controversy and conjecture. With The Shakespeare Guide to Italy, Roe s meticulous study reveals the secrets that have eluded scholars forcenturies."

Book Synopsis

"Exciting, original, and convincing. . . . This book is essential reading for all concerned with who really wrote the works of Shakespeare. A thrilling journey of discovery." --Sir Derek Jacobi, Shakespearean actor, Associate Artist, Royal Shakespeare Company

Equal parts literary detective story and vivid travelogue, The Shakespeare Guide to Italy chronicles author Richard Paul Roe's thirty-year quest to find the locations in which Shakespeare set his ten Italian plays--delivering a text which will forever change our understanding of how to read the Bard of Avon and irrevocably alter our vision of who William Shakespeare really was.

More than 150 images illustrate and enhance Roe's captivating narrative, illuminating his lifelong journey and shining a light into the depths of Shakespeare's experiences in Italy. Until now, Shakespeare's use of Italian backdrops--Romeo and Juliet's Verona, Othello's Venice, Much Ado About Nothing's Messina, to name a few--has been the source of controversy and conjecture. With The Shakespeare Guide to Italy, Roe's meticulous study reveals the secrets that have eluded scholars for centuries.

From the Back Cover

Richard Paul Roe spent more than twenty years traveling the length and breadth of Italy on a literary quest of unparalleled significance.

Using the text from Shakespeare's ten "Italian Plays" as his only compass, Roe determined the exact locations of nearly every scene in Romeo and Juliet, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Merchant of Venice, Much Ado about Nothing, The Tempest, and the remaining dramas set in Italy. His chronicle of travel, analysis, and discovery paints with unprecedented clarity a picture of what the Bard must have experienced before penning his plays.

Equal parts literary detective story and vivid travelogue--containing copious annotations and more than 150 maps, photographs, and paintings--The Shakespeare Guide to Italy is a unique, compelling, and deeply provocative journey that will forever change our understanding of how to read the Bard . . . and irrevocably alter our vision of who William Shakespeare really was.

Review Quotes

"Richard Roe's luminous achievement is nothing short of a new revelation--a parting of clouds that, for generations, have obscured the sunshine and scale of Shakespeare's Apennine art. That Shakespeare was a well-traveled Englishman of intimate Italianate sensibilities and experience can no longer be doubted." - Daniel Wright, Ph.D., Director, The Shakespeare Authorship Research Centre
"Most now agree Shakespeare knew a lot about Italy, but no one, until Richard Roe, has bothered to find out just how much. Roe has done some very original research. Unless someone can prove him wrong, anyone who claims to have written the plays of Shakespeare needs to show some Italian travel documents." - Mark Rylance, Founding Artistic Director, Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, London
"Richard Roe has produced a beautiful book that will have a deep impact on our understanding of the Shakespeare plays set in Italy. Part travelogue, part rumination, wholly a labour of love, Roe moves through the various Italian locations like a detective hunting clues and he comes up trumps just about every time. He displays a deep and wonderful knowledge of Shakespeare's works and his findings produce new and important readings of the Italian plays and the author who was responsible for them. This book is bound to be controversial; but new knowledge always is. This represents a hugely significant intervention in the study of Shakespeare and his dramatic works." - Dr. William Leahy, Head of the School of Arts, Shakespeare Authorship Studies, Brunel University
"This is a revolutionary and revelatory book, part thrilling detective story and part sober scholarly treatise. The editing of Shakespeare's plays set in Italy can henceforth never be the same as the author proves convincingly that all the guesswork and contortions required to legitimize the errors of the Warwickshire "genius" are in, in fact, correct eye-witness observations from another playwright who knew intimately the social and geographic settings he was employing." - Michael York, Shakespearean actor on Stage and Screen
"With nearly a third of Shakespeare's plays set in Italy, we may think we know the Bard's Verona, Venice and Rome, let alone Padua, Mantua and Messina. But Richard Paul Roe, with his well-worn maps and plays in hand, is the perfect Baedeker, showing us sites and insights we might never have considered without him as our guide. As an Italian and a Shakespearean, I couldn't be more thrilled to have his book in hand the next time I teach or direct one of Shakespeare's Italian plays!" - Louis Fantasia, author of Instant Shakespeare
"This is one of the most exciting, original and convincing demonstrations of how patient research and compelling evidence can spotlight dim corners of the Authorship Question. That Shakespeare had an intimate and specialist knowledge of Italy is now incontestable. His almost throwaway use of that knowledge is the strongest argument for its veracity. This book is essential reading for all concerned with who really wrote the works of Shakespeare. A thrilling journey of discovery." - Sir Derek Jacobi, Shakespearean actor, Associate Artist, Royal Shakespeare Company
"An exceptionally entertaining, enlightening, and handsome companion for a thrillingly literate Italian sojourn." - Booklist
"A fascinating look at a largely untouched aspect of Shakespeare's identity and influences. Recommended for Shakespeare enthusiasts and scholars as well as travelers looking for a new perspective, this is also particularly intriguing as a companion to specific plays." - Library Journal (starred review)
"Exciting, original, and convincing. . . . This book is essential reading for all concerned with who really wrote the works of Shakespeare. A thrilling journey of discovery." - Sir Derek Jacobi, Shakespearean actor, Associate Artist, Royal Shakespeare Company
"This is a revolutionary and revelatory book, part thrilling detective story and part sober scholarly treatise." - Michael York, Shakespearean actor of stage and screen and co-author of A Shakespearean Actor Prepares
"This represents a hugely significant intervention in the study of Shakespeare and his dramatic works." - Dr. William Leahy, Head of the School of Arts, Shakespeare Authorship Studies, Brunel University