Between the birth of Dante in 1265 and the death of Galileo in 1642 something happened which
completely revolutionized Western civilization. Painting sculpture and architecture would all
visibly change in a striking fashion. Likewise the thought and self-conception of humanity
would take on a completely different aspect. Sciences would be born - or emerge in an entirely
new guise. In this sweeping 400-year history Paul Strathern reveals how and why these new
ideas which formed the Renaissance began and flourished in the city of Florence. Just as
central and northern Germany gave birth to the Reformation Britain was a driver of the
Industrial Revolution and Silicon Valley shaped the digital age so too Strathern argues did
Florence play a similarly unique and transformative role in the Renaissance. While vividly
bringing to life the city and a vast cast of characters - including Dante Botticelli
Machiavelli Leonardo da Vinci Michelangelo and Galileo - Strathern shows how these great
Florentines forever altered Europe and the Western world.
