The scholarly consensus today holds that most of the Sonnets were written in the 1590s, when Shakspere of Stratford was in his late 20s to late 30s, a relatively youthful age even in Elizabethan times.

FORBES: Yes, Shakespeare Really Did Write Shakespeare

Not only were they unconvincing on many specifics (they initially opposed the nationalisation of Northern Rock, a failed mortgage lender, for example), but Mr Cameron's thriving attempt to rebrand the party as sunny and youthful suddenly jarred with the bleaker times.

ECONOMIST: The Conservatives in government

The New York Times depicted the judge as an arrogant despot, intent on punishing youthful ideals he was too bigoted to understand.

ECONOMIST: The last outsider