Alfred Leslie Rowse(1903 – 1997), known professionally as A. L. Rowse and to his friends and family as Leslie, was a prolific Cornish historian. He is perhaps best known for his poetry about Cornwall and his work on Elizabethan England. Rowse wrote some 100 books, including the bestseller, the autobiographical A Cornish Childhood, that sold nearly half a million copies worldwide. Rowse was also famous for his research on Shakespeare and his theories on the bard;s sexuality.