Cover design by Holly Macdonald © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2018. Cover images © World History Archive/Alamy Stock Photo (London panorama); Ian Dagnall/Alamy Stock Photo (Shakespeare’s last will and testament).

Bernard Cornwell asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library

Part One illustration: 17th century view of London © Private Collection/Bridgeman Images

Part Two illustration: Elizabethan theatre scene © Lebrecht Music and Arts Photo Library/Alamy

Part Three illustration: The Globe Theatre from ‘Old and New London’ by Edward Walford © Montagu Images/Alamy

Part Four illustration: Scene from an Elizabethan playhouse © Chronicle/Alamy

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it, while at times based on historical figures, are the work of the author’s imagination.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books

Source ISBN: 9780007504145

Ebook Edition © APRIL 2018 ISBN: 9780007504138

Version: 2018-10-17