Christopher Marlowe was a cobbler's son from Canterbury with a daring desire to be known and an uncanny ear for Latin poetry. He seized upon a rare rare opportunity for a classical education to bring about a spectacular explosion of English literature, language, and culture. His astonishing literary success nourished the talent of his collaborator and rival, William Shakespeare. Stephen Greenblatt brings a penetrating understanding of the literary work to reveal the inner world of its author, bringing to life a homosexual atheist who was tormented by his own compromises, who refused to toe the party line, and who was murdered just when he had found love.