centuries. In Queen Elizabeth, Her Bard and Hamlet, the author presents the case for Torquato Tasso, Europe's leading playwright before the name "Shakespeare" first appeared on the scene. The book tells the story of how Queen Elizabeth hired Europe's leading playwright to turn several of Polydore Virgil's "Histories of the English Kings" books into plays like Richard III. An important clue to Shakespeare's identity can be found in the names of the first two players to appear on stage in "Hamlet." Their names were Francisco and Bernardo in that order. In real life, Francisco Tasso was the father of Bernardo Tasso who was in turn the father of Torquato Tasso. Part One of the book relates how the condemnation of Elizabeth by Pope Pius required that Tasso write under a pseudonym. Part Two provides evidence, all taken from English writers who were contemporaries of Queen Elizabeth, which proves that Torquato Tasso was the true Shakespeare.

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