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Medici: Godfathers of the Renaissance | 
 enlarge | Author: Paul Strathern
Publisher: Vintage
Category: Book
List Price: £9.99
Buy New: £6.09
You Save: £3.90 (39%)
New (13) Used (3) from £5.00
Rating:  10 reviews
Sales Rank: 22256
Media: Paperback
Pages: 448
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.1 x 1.3
ISBN: 0099522977
EAN: 9780099522973
ASIN: 0099522977
Publication Date: October 4, 2007
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand New. Shipped from UK Mainland. Delivery is usually 2 - 3 working days from order by Royal Mail, International Delivery is by Airmail.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 5 more reviews...
 wonderfully woven June 18, 2008
Ms. Chele Z. Hanley (england)
this book is such an intresting read i would highly recomend this book to anyone who has fallen in love with florance or has an intrest in the history of the renaissance. Strathern wrights in such a way that you do not feel as if you are reading an history book, it is a wonderfull story about an amazing period in time. i am an art history student with prior knowlage of the medici but this book is perfectly writen for both readers with some knolage of the family and thoughs without. i would not recomend this book to people who are not intressted in the renaissance.
 A gloriously decadent read April 30, 2008
J. Duducu (Ruislip)
I knew very little about the Medici family before this book and I found it a superb introduction to this key dynasty of early modern Europe.
The book starts with an assassination attempt on Lorenzo but then goes back to the origins of the family. It is clearly laid out and keeps the detail to a manageable level. Which is a good job as it does cover about 300 years of European history. It is full of fascinating moments of love, terror, art and greed- almost everything you could want from a good story.
It takes the story to the last of the Medicis and shows how hard it can be to live up to a legacy which I guess is a lesson to us all. This is hugely enjoyable and absolutely fascinating.
Exciting times for Europe March 2, 2008
J. Mcguinness (Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland)
The book covers not only the changes that took place in this most civilised corner of medievil Italy but also describes how all this took place at the same time the Spanish discovered the new world and also when Martin Luther nailed his treatise to the church door in Germany. The world would never be the same again and this book describes how the Medici's ensured that by fair means or foul the family would ride out any storm and always come out on top.
Of morality and Medici - a great overview of a pivitol family August 22, 2007
Ian David Curry (London, UK)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
It would be impossible for a family history of the Medici to adequately cover the extent of possible material. At every generation the family had personalities who played a significant role in Florentine, Italian, Papal and ultimately European politics, economics, science and the arts. Each could merit a biography. Similarly the Medici were the familial personification of the renaissance, and books could easily be written covering their contribution to various arts, literature, science and philosophy. The family that produced two popes, rulers (both republican and despotic) of Florence and even Queens of France is not ever going to be adequately served by a single volume biography.
If the book is read with this in mind then it serves as a superb introduction to these themes and personalities. What it has to leave behind in depth of coverage it makes up for in being able to offer a scope of history that takes in some of the most crucial points in the development of European civilisation. At the Medici table come Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo and Michelangelo. Medici popes were in place at the time of the reformation, and there is a direct connection between Pope Clement VII's need for funds, the exploitative sale of indulgences and the nailing of Martin Luther's 95 theses on the door of Wittenberg Cathedral. And Catherine de Medici, Queen of France, was a crucial political player during a turbulent time for a religiously divided France.
Strathern rights beautiful narrative history. This is a fantastic read, and revels in the biographers most difficult task of bringing long dead personalities to life. The central figures of the Medici dynasty, Lorenzo, Cosimo and Giulio are skilfully reincarnated in the imagination - with Strathern revelling in the detail that produces a vivid depiction. Whilst clearly being impressed by the families track record, Strathern is no hagiographer, and demonstrates their weaknesses as clearly as their virtues. The book also manages to navigate the transformation of the Medici family from hard working bankers manipulating the political will of Florence, to becoming a Papal and European political force and finally returning to Florence as dynastic rulers.
Some have criticised the book for not being sufficiently academic, or for presenting a portrait of the family removed from their social settings. But I do think this is to criticise the book for something it is not even trying to be. This is a work of excellent narrative history, and a springboard for those sufficiently gripped to read more.
The only reason that the book didn't quite reach the five stars I reserve for the best of the best is that in having such an ambitious reach the book falls short for certain key Medici personalities, most notably Catherine, whose reign in France is pivotal but incidental to this history. It also suffers from the decline in fortunes of the family, as they sink into comfortable but obscure dominance of Florence, far removed from the commanding heights of patronising European culture and playing European politics. As the city begins to languish under the malaise of later mediocre Medici rule, so too must the book reflect this. After such a strong start it is an unfortunate way for the story to finish.
 A fair read but flawed December 30, 2006
G. Thulbourn (England)
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
Very readable book certainly covering a lot of ground. However, I felt it was badly flawed:
1. Most material is focused on the 'golden age' of the Medici. The rest is very rushed.
2. On occassion the book wanders off into far too much 'related' history, not applicable to the Medici. Background material is required but there were times when this was 'out of control'.
3. The author clearly has fallen in love with the Medici 'myth'. Too many times they are excused their history, instead of it being examined critically. They stole, they murdered, they took advantage of the population of Tuscany, the populo minuto, but this is either excused or simply not covered.
So, a reasonable book covering the Medici, but unfortunately in an abstract manner not in a social context, which makes it a poor read.
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