The edition of Edward II I read was the New Mermaid Series one, which had a very good and informative introduction, and has the spelling modernized. The spelling modernization extends to place names as well as general terms. I am not sure how I feel about spelling modernization, as it is nice to see how the work was originally spelled, but it made the work very easy to read. The play itself is amazing, very engaging even though it is a history, and is mostly based on things that actually happened. The language is not as flowery as Shakespeare, but is lovely nonetheless. Some of the characters of the play are very fickle, and seem to suddenly change as you read the text of the play. (Queen Isabella goes from devoted and self-sacrificing wife to cunning adulteress.) It makes more sense on stage, and after seeing this play, it was easier to see how good it is.

Marlowe's final play is also his masterpiece. To be sure, the dramatic events in this play really did happen, but Marlowe shows himself at his best when he paints the picture. At first, Marlowe masterfully allows us to detest Edward for undoing all the fine work of his father Edward Longshanks. We also are able to feel sorry for Mortimer and Isabella. (the eventual villains). Isabella feels neglected and Mortimer can not stand to see the fine work of Edward Longshanks undone. Later, we come to have some respect for Edward II when he shows himself to have some of his father's fine qualities and he crushes the first rebellion against him with courage and intelligence. When the second uprising successful, we no longer are lead into any feelings of admiration for Mortimer and Isabella. Once they have power they are more vile and disgusting than Edward II ever was. By Act 5.1, Marlowe gives Edward II moving soliloquies and does not allow our new won pity to slack for a moment. The final scene of this play when Edward II's 17 year old son Edward III flips the tables, crushes his corrupt mother, has Mortimer put to death, and offers prayers to his murdered father is a scene that is almost unsurpassed in literature. To be sure, this did actually happen, but Marlowe not only tells us what happened, but colors it with his superb mastery of the language.

Edward the second, or to give it its full title, 'The troublesome reign and Lamentable death of Edward, the second king of England, with the tragical fall of proud Mortimer', is famous for being an Elizabethan 'Gay play', but this is only one of the subjects contained within the play. Politics, cruelty and the Feudal System are all important themes in this, one of the great masterstrokes of Elizabethan literature. The play itself is a history play, set in the 14th century featuring Edward and his previously basished lover, Gaveston, who returns after the death of Edward's father. This return enrages the barons, who were sworn to Edward's father that Gaveston would never return. This is the catalyst for a plot that races around like a cheetah on speed, culminating in one of the most excruciating deaths ever portrayed on stage. "Shakespeare? Who? Marlowe was far better!"

In "The Slicing Edge of Death," author Judith Cook takes another look at the death of Christopher Marlowe, and in so doing, naturally, adds another segment into the death of this renowned Elizabethan playwright. Long one of England's perplexing mysteries, Marlowe's murder has brought more than a few theories as to the real reason for his death, much of it to do with one conspiracy or another.

Officially, Marlowe's demise was ruled as "death by brawl" by the Queen's coroner in 1593. However, centuries later, the controversy--even confusion--continues. And historians and novelists have attempted to solve this historical conundrum. Judith Cook's version is well-written and documented, yet, as she maintains, her work is fiction. Still, the author's style of writing and her ability to keep the reader in tow are to her credit. Assembling a cast of real and imaginary characters, Cook takes us to this ultimate date (May 30) in a systematic, yet absorbing, manner. The

reader will not want to stray from its pages for long!

"There was no reason why anyone, least of all William Bradley, should have known that 18 September 1589 was to be the lasts day of his life." Thus begins this "roman a clef"--a great narrative hook sure to snare even the most skeptic of readers. Thus, in chapter one we meet Christopher (Kit) Marlowe, playwright and poet extraordinaire, involved in one of his notorious street brawls. Marlowe's predilection for such behavior, as well as for his brilliant plays ("Tambourlaine," "The Jew of Malta," "Edward II," and "Dr. Faustus," principally) and poetry. A contemporary--and some say rival, of Shakespeare, Marlowe's short life was filled with not only his brilliance but his controversial--even for the Elizabethans!--lifestyle. In addition, the author downplays the "rivalry" between him and Shakespeare, which really is unimportant in this work. It is documented, too, that Marlowe had been in the employ of the Queen's secret service and had, indeed, worked on a number of cases involving the gathering of secret intelligence for the government.

In this book, the author uses Marlowe as a man who enters--and often exits-- the lives of her other characters. It is through the eyes of these characters that we view much of Marlowe, although he, himself, certainly plays a large--and vital--role. The environment we are introduced to is that of the world of the players, the actors and producers of the theatre. During this time, of course, London is visited by the plague, intense court intrigue, and other subterfuge. All these elements combine to make "The Slicing Edge of Death" compelling reading, especially for those readers interested in history stories. Judith Cook has made her version quite readable, plausible, and satisfying....

It's hard to say if the hypothesis Judith Cook puts forward for the death of Shakespeare's contemporary Christopher Marlowe is true, but it's definitely plausible. Marlowe was a great playwrite -- if he hadn't died young, he may well have exceeded Shakespeare in the modern English-lauguage canon -- and his early, violent death was a blow to literature. If even half of what Cook posits as possible reasons and modes of his death are true, the man was an early model of James Bond, and it's very edifying to think this might be how the man died.

I love the "Tamburlaine" of Christopher Marlowe, because I've read it and couldn't resist it. The story is not melodramatically forced, but rather follows in a smooth and epic line, giving it the texture of a documentary. As a tragedy it's weird, encompassing all drifts of literature: darkly humorous, rhetorical, romantic, violent and deep, with an indescribable grandeur. People commenting on Marlowe's work usually regard him as psychologically shallow, but in this play the terrifying hero is so charismatically evoked in his language, sometimes rhetoric and sometimes commonplace, that I left the book with a queer sense of something between love and dread. Even Tamburlaine's worst deeds, like his cursory humiliation of the captive kings, gain an odd flavour of predestination: they're more of the hijinx of a power-drunk teenager than the actions of a cynical tyrant. Everyone should read this work, in which the dark-tinted wonders of the mediaeval Orient are called up in some of the most steelishly beautiful poetry I've ever read.

This is the exciting story of Tamburlaine's relentless rise to greatness. His military victories are not presented directly, but evoked and described in some of the most splendid verse of the early Elizabethan theater. We also get to see a love story as Tamburlaine woos Zenocate, the captive daughter of one of his rivals.

This is without a doubt the most interesting and useful new book published on Christopher Marlowe, the Elizabethan dramatist and poet, for many years. Harraway's sophisticated theoretical approach re-examines each of the major plays in turn, building upon (and often disagreeing with) previous critics' work. The many unhelpfully biased approaches to Marlowe - concerned only by his relative 'greatness' vis-a-vis Shakespeare, or pruriently attracted or repelled by Marlowe's homosexuality - are stripped away to reveal an incredibly powerful writer on his own terms. Neglected plays such as the _Massacre at Paris_ are reappraised and revealed to be powerful, original and questioning pieces of stagecraft. Marlowe, in Harraway's vital book, steps out of Shakespeare's shadow, and the myths that have grown up around his private life, to show himself as perhaps the greatest Elizabethan playwright of them all, filled with humour, wonder and intellectual power. Dr Harraway's book deserves to be first on any reading list.

well i thought that the book was good, and even though it was introduced to me in high school, i think that maybe it is for the more mature crowd. if you can get passed the text then you will really enjoy the book. it is best to read the book along with its footnotes. not only is it a little easier on the reader, but it is also more enjoyable when you can actually understand what it is you are reading. but over all the book was excellent. i think of it as one of marlowe's greatest works.

Christopher Marlowe is a genius. This thorough, Oxfordiancompilation of his best known plays contains Tamburlaine the Great parts one and two, the Tragical History of Doctor Faustus in its original A-text and its later B-text, The Jew of Malta, and Edward II. The beauty of these dramas lies in the fact that they're short but powerful reading pieces. In five acts Marlowe was able to generate a story complete with action, classical allusions, and a bawdy humor one might not expect from otherwise generally classified stuffy English Renaissance drama. This book contains an exhaustive introduction that explains many details of the publication dates of the plays and the differences between versions (Faustus). It also contains a thorough section for notes that further explain the texts. Finally, it contains a glossary of the commonly used words from the texts. The bottom line? This book is a great read--it's funny (I can't begin to stress that enough), and you will appreciate Marlowe's wit and talent just as much as William Shakespeare did. Buy it today!

Entered from the Sun is, I think, one of the best books I have ever read. It is beautifully written, and, like few other books I have read, brings forth the thoughts, smells, colors, and lives of a long forgotten age. Well worth reading!

I CAN NOT understand why this play of Marlowe's was never popular. In this chilling masterpiece, not a single page is wasted. This play offers several dramatic passages. Guise's soliloquy in scene 2 is especially powerful. Another aspect of this play that Marlowe handles with the utmost of genius is Anjou's rise to King Henry III, and later his fall. Throughout the play, Guise presents us with chilling moments and his death is handled with dramatically appropriate lines. The reconciliation between King Henry III and Navarre also demonstrates Marlowe's mastery of literature. Finally, King Henry III's death really helps us to see that Marlowe paved the way for Shakespeare in every sense of the word. If you liked Marlowe's "Faustus" and "Edward II," you WILL NOT want to miss this one!

A very clever novel which neatly compasses epic historical fresco, philosophical thoughts and almost devilish satire in the form of Christopher Columbus' "autobiography". We'll follow Columbus' tragicomical life from early childhood to an old age, while we witness his successes and failures, sea voyages and love affairs. The book is full of anachronisms (for example, Columbus constantly mocks or comments his latter-day biographers) and all kinds of literary novelties. Despite the abundant humour and sometimes plain wackiness, the book also offers a very humane and touching description of an era which saw, among other things, the horrors of Spanish inquisition, slavery and subjugation of Indians.

Mr. Marlowe's autobiography of Cervantes is stylistically very much the same thing.

A wonderful peice of literauture!