One for history buffs

[Jeff Stehman]

In his translation of The Prince, George Bull recommends Volume I of the New Cambridge Modern History (The Renaissance 1493-1520) for those interested in historical background on Italy during Machiavelli's time. Well, I'm interested. Problem is, it's six hours to the nearest library that has a copy, and it can't be checked out. It's also ~50 years old, which may or may not be an issue.

Can anyone recommend a good history that covers this time and place in detail?

--Jeff Stehman

[MichaelEhart]

Gutenberg project titles, download for free:

The Civilisation of the Renaissance in Italy http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/2074

And the quite fun The Life of Cesare Borgia by Raphael Sabatini http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/3467

"The Scarlet Colored Beast" The Sword Review, September 2007
"Nothing But Our Tears" The Sword Review. August 2007
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"The View From the Shotglass Floor" Ray Gun Revival, coming soon!
"Six Zombies Doing That Mick Jagger Strut" Damned in Dixie, March 2007
"The Death of Number 23" Dark Krypt,Fall 2006
"Servant of the Manthycore" Sword Review, April 2006
"Voice of the Spoiler" Better Fiction,Spring 2006
"Dancing with the Elder Gods"-- Thirteen Magazine, October 2005
"It's a Living" Byzarium---November 2005
"An Exorcism Straight, Hold the Elvis" The Sword Review, October 2005
Host, 2005 Nebula Awards Live Chat, sff.net
http://mehart.blogspot.com/

[tchernabyelo]

Burckhardt's book (the first of those linked) is still pretty much regarded as the seminal work on the subject (I have a hardback copy from, I think, the 30s).


Also, a more general view, Fernand Braude's two-volume 'The Mediterranean in the Age of Philip II' is a fantastic sourcebook.


Poke Wikipedia as well - take a look at the Medici, Gonzaga, d'Este, Borgia and Sforza families, stuff on Federigo da Montefeltro of Urbino, the cities of Siena, Lucca, Padua, Florence, Lucca, Pisa, Mantua and of course Venice and Rome; check out Savonarola and the various Popes of the time; Emperor Charles V; Francois II (IIRC)... oh, lots of stuff.

"The Box Of Beautiful Things" - IGMS#3
"The Man Who Was Never Afraid" - Abyss and Apex #19

[Jeff Stehman]

Thank you.

--Jeff Stehman

[Rob Santa]

Let me get this right...you make a request for information about Italy's Machiavellian era and in less than 24 hours (heck, in fifteen minutes) you get responses that guide you to Masters-level work you can download for free by people who obviously understand the importance of the books they recommend.

SFREADER FORUMS ROCK!!!


Rob Santa
Hopelessly Addicted Writer of Speculative Fiction
and CEO ofRicasso Press

[Jeff Stehman]

Well, duh, why do you think I asked? /emoticons/smile.gif

BTW, I think it (or a fantasy version of it) would make a great setting for a wide variety of stories.

--Jeff Stehman

[tchernabyelo]

It certainly would.

Why do you think I have a shelf of Renaissance and late-medieval reference books?Shipbuilding, Travel, Science and Technology, Trade, Warfare, Economics, Art...

/emoticons/smile.gif

(BTW - mistype in my original post - it's Fernand Braudel, not Fernand Braude. And yes, he's French, but all his important works - and there are many of them - have been well translated. Not light reading, but fantastically useful stuff all over the place).

"The Box Of Beautiful Things" - IGMS#3
"The Man Who Was Never Afraid" - Abyss and Apex #19

[Jeff Stehman]

tchernabyelo said...
Why do you think I have a shelf of Renaissance and late-medieval reference books? Shipbuilding, Travel, Science and Technology, Trade, Warfare, Economics, Art...
City-states, guilds, factions, the Church, outside superpowers, and a whole lot of 'regime changes.'

--Jeff Stehman