Customer Reviews

Medici

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book is so poorly researched it makes fantasy fiction look real. Strathern makes leaps and jumps from out of nowhere, using incorrect dates and facts. The first thing that comes to mind for me is his claim that Eleonora di Toledo and Cosimo de Medici had 6 kids and cloistered the girls up like nuns...... Uhh no they didn't, they had 11 kids that we know of for a fact, and any reputable source will tell you she was a very active caring mother, strict yes, but only by today's standards. There was also a claim that lions in the backyard kept Eleonora up and frightened at night? WTF? where is your reference for that one dude? Stick to your philosophy Strathern, history is clearly not your strength.

On a return trip from Florence, I bought this book at the airport because I wanted to learn more about the Medici family. Not being a historian, the book deserves great credit because it kept my attention for the long flight home and over the next few days. I wish I had read it before I went to Florence. It provides a great overview of the Medici influence, both in Florence and in Europe. The book serves as a great grand overview for someone who has never studied the history of Florence. My only problem with the book is it's pervasive homophobia. Over and over again, the author portrays certain members of the Medici family as deviant, identifying their weakness or "profligate" lifestyle as problematic. The book does not identify or explore the implications of being homosexual in a deeply Catholic and heterosexist culture. It simply judges members of the Medici as not being "normal." In every instance, gay members of the family or artists are portrayed negatively.

The book is written in a narrative style telling the story of the entire Medici Dynasty. Paul Strathern understands to put his main charakters into the appropriate historical background. I liked the crosslinks to many historically important charakters and their achievements. The end of the book loses a bit of it's flavour due to the disperse stories told about europe's nobility.

one of the best books about the renaisance that i have read. great historical, religious, political and cultural perspective of the period . it makes you feel you coexist with the wonders and perils of the period.