High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Alfred Leslie Rowse, CH, FBA (4 December 1903 – 3 October 1997), known professionally as A. L. Rowse and to friends and family as Leslie, was a British historian from Cornwall. He is perhaps best known for his work on Elizabethan England and his poetry about Cornwall. He was also a Shakespearean scholar and biographer. He developed a widespread reputation for irascibility and intellectual arrogance.