An in-depth study into the circumstances surrounding Shakespeare's sudden death, with a look at forensics and his death mask William Shakespeare lived in violent times; so much so that his death passed without comment. By the time he was adopted as the national poet of England, the details of his life had been concealed. He had become an invisible man, the humble Warwickshire lad who entertained royalty and then faded into obscurity. But his story has been carefully manipulated. In reality, he was a dissident whose works were highly critical of the regimes of Elizabeth I and James I. This book examines the means, motive, and the opportunity that led to his murder, and explains why Shakespeare had to be 'stopped.' From forensic analysis of his death mask to the hunt for his missing skull, the circumstances of Shakespeare's death are reconstructed and his life reconsidered in the light of fresh discoveries. What emerges is a portrait of a genius who spoke his mind and was silenced by his greatest literary rival.