In reviewing the sources of this period, one name will always stand out: that of William Shakespeare. But this history, which stretches on for several days if performed directly through every act and chapter, is said to have helped inspire the creation of his more popular histories. Sadly, the author remains unknown to time.
While Shakespeare’s histories side with the victors, and are undoubtedly propaganda, this earlier source takes a somewhat opposite thesis to his. Where he demonstrates that the thrust of history can cause anyone to raise to the appropriate level, the True History consistently portrays monarchs as no greater or less inept than any other humans. This, as well as the multi-day running time, led to the suppression of this drama.
Curiously, the Puritans that would so soon ban theatres, mined this dramatic source for every bit of information that might add to their cause. One surviving scrap of a broadside parodying the production of this play claimed
“it is greate in the sweepe of historie only in so much as it is more longwounde than a sermone at some grande churche”.
A Short Catalog of the Alternate Canon 