A Biographer of Christofer Marlowe is faced with an immediate problem because there is very little evidence in the archives to piece together his story. There are the plays of course, but there are no first person utterances for us to interpret. The facts of his adult life are few and far between and not helped by some evidence that he was heavily involved in the world of espionage and counter espionage making even these few facts of doubtful accuracy. He had a criminal record but never went to trial and was never convicted of anything, he lived in a world of informants and dissemblers and so third person witness statements must also be treated with suspicion. There is only one example of Marlowe’s signature and that was on a legal document. Only one of his works was published during his lifetime and his name does not appear anywhere on the text.

David Riggs solves the problem in two ways, he fills in the contextual details and then links this to the plays and the poetry, while piecing together as much as is known of Marlowe’s life, clearly indicating where there are gaps in his story. Marlowe was murdered when he was thirty and some of the details of the crime are known, but why he was murdered is still the stuff of conjecture: it may have been retribution for his work in spying and informing on others, it may have been because his views were seen as a threat to the queen and the state, or it may have been a simple argument over money. Riggs tells us the story as far as it is known and queries the more blatant conjectures, without advancing his own particular theory. He does however fill in some of the background of the concerns of the government, of Marlowe and other jobbing writers that could be pertinent to the murder, so giving the reader the information required to make his own judgement.

Riggs’ biography is written chronologically with the first six chapters concerned with Marlowe’s education. Knowing which school and colleges he attended allows the author to enter into some detail as to what Marlowe was taught and how he fitted into the social milieu, By careful readings of the plays and poems Riggs is able to identify themes and issues that were used or rejected by the young author. He builds an educated picture of Marlowe and the tools he had to hand to create his literature and how he developed what had gone before and Riggs is in no doubt that his subject warrants the acclaim he now receives.

He offered spectators a thrilling repertory of poetic tragedies that spoke to their most urgent concerns – grinding poverty, class conflict, erotic desire, religious dissent, and the fear of hell. Marlowe’s eight-year career exploded with masterpieces. Tamburlaine the Great, Dr Faustus, The Jew of Malta, and Edward II transformed the Elizabethan stage into a place of astonishing creativity.

There is a chapter on each of the plays with Riggs guiding the reader through the themes and ideas that he has garnered from his own reading. Space does not allow him to carry out an in depth study, but there is enough here to stimulate the prospective reader of Marlowe’s oeuvre.

This is an excellent biography that serves also to stimulate a reading of Marlowe’s texts, providing plenty of context to the life and works of the author. There is much criticism and biographical work on Marlowe available for the interested reader, but Riggs provides something that gives more than just an introduction; a critique and biography in its own write and I would rate it as 4 stars. ( )

A superb book. As so little is known about Marlowe's life the conundrum for any potential biographer is how to find a new way to contextualise his life and his works. Riggs takes the seemingly simple approach of exploring contemporary Elizabethan life and the opportunities and restrictions that this would have imposed on the young playwright. The result is a rich and atmospheric narrative, which really brings his subject to life. ( )

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