The Medici

Rating:
Summary: wealth, power, and art
Review: In this exquisitely written book, you get the history of thirteen generations of a family who brought Western Europe out of the cultural darkness of their time, the city of Florence to the pinnacle of its glory, and the art of masters like Michelangelo and Botticelli to the world.
Young starts his Prologue with: "In the 5th century storm upon storm out of the dark North swept away in a great deluge of barbarism all the civilization of the western half of the Roman Empire", and lays the foundation for how the Medici came to power in the 15th century, a power that lasted nearly 350 years.

There are chapters on the palaces, the art, and biographies of the most prominent members of the family, starting with Giovanni di Ricci (1360-1428), and ending with Anna Maria Ludovica (1667-1743). The longest of the histories is on Catherine de Medici, with all its fascinating intrigue, and my favorite is the chapter on Lorenzo the Magnificent (1449-1492), which also includes the short life of his brother Giuliano (1453-1478).

This has been a cherished book since childhood, when I loved it for its black and white illustrations; most of them are sublime portraits by artists like Bronzino and Raphael, and I fell in love with Botticelli's rendition of the above-mentioned Giuliano, mesmerized by the beauty of this painting (Plate VI). Michelangelo sculpted Giuliano for his tomb (Plate XXV), posed gracefully seated, wearing a breastplate, and also used his likeness for the famous statue of David. There is a difference in how Giuliano is represented by these two masters, but historians have noted that Michelangelo's interpretation is most like its subject.
It has copious notes, a wonderful fold-out Genealogical Tree, and a list of Authorities Consulted. For anyone interested in this era of history and the extraordinary Medici family, this book, though written many decades ago, tells its story in a fluid and riveting style, and is great reading.

Rating:
Summary: Best non-fiction history book I have read
Review: What Young has written is two dozen interesting and relavent biographies that takes place in some of the more interesting times and places in history, remarkably tied together through a single family. He does not delve deeply into anything but art, and yet he has not writen one of those history books of everything at everytime that teach you nothing. Now note that this book is very long and has chapters that might be worth skipping (his descriptions of paintings that you can't see), but if you want to at least be introduced to the dissolution of the catholic church, the growth of objective thinking, the reformation, the rise of monarchies and standing armies, the birth of scientific thought, some really interesting characters, and, more importantly, how they all tie together, than I can not recommend this book highly enough.