The Lost Diary of Shakespeare’s Ghostwriter

Lost Diaries

by Steve Barlow, Steve Skidmore

The eighth Lost Diary -- factually accurate, fictionally funny! William Shakespeare himself needs no introduction, but not everyone knows the secrets of his success! How could a man so busy with life in Elizabethan England have had time to write all those plays and poems? Enter stage right, Egbert Noah Bacon -- one of his writing group who, quill in hand, gives us a new perspective on the Bard himself and of a fascinating period of English history: Includes Spanish Armada, Gunpowder Plot, Queen Elizabeth First's life...and death...and successor. The Plague, the invention of the lavatory and, of course, the building and burning of the Globe Theatre.

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Steve Barlow (real name Steven Lowe) was born in Britain. He studied at Warwick University and Nottingham University, and worked at various times as a teacher, actor, stage manager and puppeteer. Then he went to teach in Botswana. On his return to the UK he met Steve Skidmore, collectively known as The Two Steves—are British collaborative writers who mostly work in the field of children's literature. They have written over 70 books together.

Reviews

[A.R. Collins · Rating 3 out of 5]

I remember enjoying this when I was about twelve, after winning it in a competition, along with three others in the series (my copies are signed by the authors!). This time around, I think I felt very much the same way as I did back then. The book is well written, easy to read, engaging and lots of fun. I suspect the publisher hoped this series would be successful off the back of Horrible Histories, and I can see why it didn't have the same success; the humour is a bit hit and miss, and though it's a good book there is nothing very striking about it. You can't trust the history that much either; there are some very interesting things to learn in this one about Shakespeare's life and work, but there are also some inaccuracies (bar the anachronistic humour and this is not what you thought stuff; that is all fine and indeed necessary). Even so, it's a quick, easy and enjoyable read that delivers everything you want from a tongue-in-cheek historical diary aimed at children: a strong voice; a light and humorous tone; history in terms we can all understand, and a lot of quirky illustrations that help bring the whole thing to life. In my opinion, it's a very solid three stars.