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Title: The Italian Renaissance (American Heritage Library) by John H. Plumb ISBN: 0-8281-0485-9 Publisher: Amer Heritage Pub Co Pub. Date: February, 1986 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.67 (3 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: An introduction to a magnificent time
Comment: Plumb's book is a very readable introduction to the Renaissance. He begins by explaining how civilization collapsed after the fall of Rome. But the Renaissance grew from the increases in population, trade and the flow of ideas. Italy was a land of cities instead of feudalism, able to make good use of trade to gain great power. The increase of trade brought power to the merchants and guilds instead of the nobility. Trade and power brought money to support an explosion of the arts and finance the flow of ideas, especially from the past.
Plumb describes the histories of some of the cities of Italy. In one chapter he describes the intricate diplomacy of Milan. In other chapters he describes the commerce of Venice and the trade of Florence. We see the brilliance of artists and dissipation of rulers. Plumb describes how the new learning, the new way of seeing the world, spread across Europe.
However, Plumb only wrote half of the book. The second half contains a series of biographies of great artists and rulers of the Renaissance, written by different authors. There are short biographies of artists such as Michelangelo, and Leonardo da Vinci: rulers such as Lorenzo de Medici and Doge Foscari, and authors such as Petrarch and Machiavelli. This book is a tour de force introduction to the magnificent Renaissance.
Rating: 5
Summary: Renaissance is about Life
Comment: This book is informative, intelligent, and so well written that it can have a strong appeal to the reader sheerly as literature. It is also a funny book. All the intrigues, treacheries, betrayals, and cruelties perpetrated by the pillars of the Renaissance society (popes, politicians, eminent soldiers) are described so naturally, vividly, and, sometimes, unexpectedly that I could not help but laugh when reading about them.
Plumb knows how to go straight to the point and give the reader his insights clearly and unobtrusively. He does not preach, he simply states and gives facts so wonderfully that I could not help but admire his masterful style of presentation. Here is an example: "In the darkest decades, there was a froce at work--trade--that was inimical to this world of warriors, priests, and peasants. Trade drew Moslem, Jew, and Christian together; trade fattened towns, sometimes bred them." Notice with what facility Plumb has just outlined the importance of trade--it mitigates cultural barriers and draws people together on the basis of mutual business interests. Or, here is an example of how Renaissance confronted dogmatism and obsession with getting at truth by deductive reasoning: "The old dogmatic certainties did not vanish at once, and the habit of trying to nail truth down by argument from fundamental principles was not lightly cast aside. Some of the most original minds, however, particularly Machiavelli and Leonardo da Vinci, sought truth not in argument but in observation." The book is full of such gems.
Renaissance was strange, cruel, and full of life and culture. This book gives us Renaissance in all its splendor fitting to a description of the time of revival and vitality.
Rating: 5
Summary: Very good and highly readable overview
Comment: I was surprised how easy it was to read The Italian Renaissance. Some history books are an effort to read, but this one was such a breeze I got myself caught up in it, and finished it in only a day or two. The first half of the book is by Plumb, which goes over the principal cities and themes of the Renaissance. The second half is a mix of biographies of prominent figures of the period by different authors - but there isn't much of a difference between these pieces and Plumb's half in style, both are wonderful to read. This book was so good I've bought a few more in the American Heritage series. If you want a good survey of the Renaissance in Italy, than this is the perfect book for you.
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Title: The Italian Renaissance by Peter Burke ISBN: 0691006784 Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr Pub. Date: 26 April, 1999 List Price(USD): $21.30 |
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Title: The Global Commons: An Introduction by Susan J. Buck, Elinor Ostrom ISBN: 1559635517 Publisher: Island Press Pub. Date: March, 1998 List Price(USD): $26.00 |
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Title: Governing the Commons : The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action by Elinor Ostrom, Randall Calvert, Thrainn Eggertsson ISBN: 0521405998 Publisher: Cambridge University Press Pub. Date: 30 November, 1990 List Price(USD): $22.00 |
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Title: European Politics in Transition by Mark Kesselman, Joel Krieger, Christopher S. Allen, Stephen Hellman, David Ost, George Ross ISBN: 0618054502 Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Co Pub. Date: 01 January, 1900 List Price(USD): $70.76 |
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Title: Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World by Mark Kurlansky ISBN: 0140275010 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: January, 2003 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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