Renaissance category: 1000 books

The illusion of power - the spectacle of politics - as it is used to dazzle one's own followers, to fool an opponent, and to bemuse oneself has never been displayed more grandly than in the meeting in 1520 of England's Henry VIII and the French King Francis I on the Field of the Cloth of Gold. Here,...

In the four and a half centuries since Machiavelli’s death, no single and unanimously accepted interpretation of his ideas has succeeded in imposing itself upon the lively debate over the meaning of his works. Yet there has never been any doubt about the fundamental importance of Machiavelli’s...

**UPDATED for 2019** Medieval Castles: Fascinating Facts About Famous Castles in England from the Medieval Times A fascinating and historical look at twenty one famous castles in England from the medieval era. You will be transported back in time to the era of knights and jousting, wars and warriors in Medieval Europe. Enjoy your trip!

Twenty-seven ways to commit murder. A boulder falls from a roof followed by a body, narrowly missing the Duke of Milan, Ludovico Sforza, as his entourage enters the courtyard of a monastery. Another assassination attempt on the Duke, this time thwarted by Niccolo da Pavia, an orphaned...

How did Leonardo paint his Last Supper mural? Why is it so famous? Why is it in such bad shape? This short e-book attempts to give the reader a look at those questions and numerous other ones. A great intro those who want "just a little bit more" on this intriguing topic.

Everybody knows her smile, but no one knows her story: Meet the flesh-and-blood woman who became one of the most famous artistic subjects of all time—Mona Lisa. A genius immortalized her. A French king paid a fortune for her. An emperor coveted her. Every year more than nine million visitors...

The story of the reign of Charles I — told through the lives of his people. Prize-winning historian David Cressy mines the widest range of archival and printed sources, including ballads, sermons, speeches, letters, diaries, petitions, proclamations, and the proceedings of secular and ecclesiastical...

THE period of the Reformation had produced two great changes in the history of Europe. It had revolutionised religion and it had revolutionised commerce. Both changes were the result of a previous revolution in thought. It was not so much that men had not dared to think in the Middle Ages -- many...

The most evil woman in history? A pawn of her powerful family? A skilled ruler and a generous patron of the arts? Once described as the 'greatest whore there ever was in Rome', Lucrezia Borgia has captivated historians and artists for centuries with wildly conflicting accounts of her character. This...

For centuries, the inlet called the Golden Horn and the city on the hills overlooking it were situated in the middle of the known world. To the south, through the Dardanelles and the Aegean Sea, lay the Mediterranean, around which the Greek, Roman, Persian, and Arab worlds revolved. To the north,...

“Lascelles has achieved the seemingly impossible: a concise and highly readable history of Catholic Popes that manages to be extremely entertaining and informative at the same time.” Gerald Posner, author of God’s Bankers "A brilliant book on a number of different levels. Lascelles...

Did you know that the ancient Romans left sixty days of winter out of their calendar, considering these two months a dead time of lurking terror and therefore better left unnamed? That they had a horror of even numbers, hence the tendency for months with an odd number of days? That robed and bearded...

In September 1665, plague was inadvertentlytransported from London to Eyam in Derbyshire on a consignment of cloth. This small country village subsequently became famous for its decision to instate a A ecordon sanitaireA f, isolaoiing itself to prevent the disease from spreading. Much of EyamA fs...

What makes this book different from others about Leonardo? Catherine takes a topical look at da Vinci's life - covering not just his artistic accomplishments, but also his mathematics work, his engineering work, his inventions, and much more.Most books on Da Vinci for kids have very little...