The Italian Renaissance

by J.H. Plumb

Book Overview

Entertaining and informative, this definitive overview of the Italian Renaissance will both captivate ordinary readers and challenge specialists

Dr. Plumb's impressive and provocative narrative is accompanied by contributions from leading historians, including Morris Bishop, J. Bronowski, Maria Bellonci, and many more, who have further illuminated the lives of some of the era's most unforgettable personalities, from Petrarch...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0618127380
• ISBN13: 9780618127382
• Release Date: June 2001
• Publisher: Mariner Books
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.73 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.5" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Wow!

What an intriguing book! I have a degree in art history so the Italian Renaissance is nothing new to me. I so enjoyed this book! It is written for a reader that is somewhat familiar with the time & people, but it goes into detail to clairfy. This was a great read!

Introducing the Renaissance

I wish there were more books like this one. The first half is discussion by J. H. Plumb about many basic aspects of the Italian Renaissance one should know, the second half is a collection of well-written biographical essays about prominent Italian Renaissance figures. The second half was particularly good. I think Kenneth Clark's essay on Michaelangelo and Morris Bishop's on Petrach were the best, but they were all very good. All are well written, unpretentious and intelligent, and all concern interesting people. The notable figures of Renaissance Italy are really quite different from notable figures of the American Revolution, say. They were much more passionate. The good better, the evil were more evil. Men loved works of art, they didn't just pretend to. I was reading about Benedict Arnold recently, deplorable traitor! but for diabolical rogues, he's nothing beside Cesare Borgia or Sigismondo Malatesta. And who can compare with Federigo da Montefeltro? Or Leonardo da Vinci? They're inspirational. They make you want to live. Anyway, this is great book. I'm glad I read it.

An introduction to a magnificent time

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.

Renaissance is about Life

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.

Very good and highly readable overview

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.