That "William Shakespeare" was the author of Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet and many other much-loved plays is the greatest deception in literary history. Shakespeare Revolutionized tells the fascinating story of how the identity of the real author--Edward de Vere, the highest ranking earl in Queen Elizabeth's court--was uncovered and explains why it matters who the author really was: knowing Shakespeare's real identity revolutionizes understandings of the plays, the conditions in which they were written and the Elizabethan era.