Falstaff: A Novel

Robert Nye

Skyhorse Publishing Company, Incorporated, Feb 14, 2012 - Fiction

Irascible and still lecherous at age 81, Sir John Falstaff, one of Shakespeareís greatest characters, spins out these memoirs as an antidote to legend, and in so doing manages to recreate his own. Set in an England that was earthy, violent, superstitious, and brimming with a new sense of national purpose, FALSTAFF brings to life not only the man himself but the whole Elizabethan era. Here we see what history and the Bard overlooked or purposely left out of his plays: what really happened that celebrated night when Falstaff and Justice Shallow heard the chimes at midnight; who killed Hotspur; how many men really fell at Agincourt; what actually transpired at the coronation of Henry V (ìHarry the Prigî) and much, much more!

About the author

Robert Thomas Nye was born in London, England on March 15, 1939. At the age of 16, he left school and published his first poem, Kingfisher, in the London Magazine. He was a poet who also wrote novels, plays, and stories for children. His collections of poetry include Juvenilia, Juvenilia 2, and The Rain and The Glass, which won the Cholmondeley Award. He became the poetry editor of the newspaper The Scotsman in 1967. From 1971 to 1996, he was the poetry critic of The Times of London. His children's books include Taliesin, March Has Horse's Ears, and Beowulf: A New Telling. His first novel for adults, Doubtfire, was published in 1967. His other novels for adults included The Life and Death of My Lord Gilles de Rais, Merlin, Faust, The Memoirs of Lord Byron, Mrs. Shakespeare: The Complete Works, and The Late Mr. Shakespeare. His novel, Falstaff, won The Hawthornden Prize and Guardian Prize for Fiction. During the early 1970s, he wrote several plays for BBC radio including A Bloody Stupid Hole. He died from cancer on July 3, 2016 at the age of 77.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Falstaff: A Novel
• Author: Robert Nye
• Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing Company, Incorporated, 2012
• ISBN: 1611455715, 9781611455717
• Subjects: Fiction / Historical / General