The Medici

Power, Money, and Ambition in the Italian Renaissance

By: Paul Strathern

Narrated by: Derek Perkins

Length: 16 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's summary

A dazzling history of the modest family that rose to become one of the most powerful in Europe, The Medici is a remarkably modern story of power, money, and ambition.

Against the background of an age that saw the rebirth of ancient and classical learning, Paul Strathern explores the intensely dramatic rise and fall of the Medici family in Florence as well as the Italian Renaissance, which they did so much to sponsor and encourage. Interwoven into the narrative are the lives of many of the great Renaissance artists with whom the Medici had dealings, including Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Donatello as well as scientists like Galileo and Pico della Mirandola.

In his enthralling study, Strathern also follows the fortunes of those members of the Medici family who achieved success away from Florence, including the two Medici popes and Catherine de' Medici, who became queen of France and played a major role in that country through three turbulent reigns.

©2016 Paul Strathern (P)2016 Tantor

Critic reviews

"A fantastically comprehensive history covering the breadth of the great learning, art, politics, and religion of the period." ( Kirkus)

Excellent history!!

I became obsessed with listening to this excellent read about the Medici! If you’ve watched the Medici tv series, you can easily put faces with names and it makes the listen more real! I will listen again! It gives an excellent family lineage outline as well as that of artists and scientists that helped shape the world!

I couldn’t stop listening….

Fantastic insightful review of the Medici history. Been to Firenze several times but, now I really want to go back and experience everything again and with a revised perspective. Superbly written and delivered exquisitely.
Thank you.

Fantastic!

Elegantly written with clear connections of the rise and transfer of power within the Medici family both in commerce, politics and religion.

Nothing short of splendid

Well written, and gives a good historical, financial and social account the lives of the Medici family

I loved this book

The quality of the writing, the understanding of what makes history interesting, the in-depth look at the personalities of the Medici families, make this a fabulous book, beautifully done. And the reader gets six stars. I couldn’t put it down. Not since Barbara Tuchman have I read such good history.

The intimate view of 250 years of the family

Brings history alive is what I like most about this book………………have read all of this series.

Very detailed, but worth it overall

This is a really interesting look at the Medici and that time in "Italian" history; it has an overly detailed start, but got better as it went along. It did take me a long time to finish, though. Time well spent, though, and gave me some good understanding about Italian history before my trip there later this year.

Excellent!

This book covers about three hundred years of the Medici family, but in the process, you learn a lot about Italy, Europe, and human nature. You also see how good and bad dynastic dictatorships can be as well as how democracy will fail without the full commitment of the population. There are many other lessons to be learned from this book. A population defended by mercenaries is never safe. A population not willing to give their lives to defend their freedoms will be subjugated. There are a lot of lessons about life and government in this book.

A good overview of the Renaissance but...

The Medici were at the center of the Italian Renaissance. This good overview suffers from the author's obsession with humanism (scientific/athiesm) vs. medievalism (Catholic) philosophy and his lengthy discussions about everyone's homosexuality. Also ends rather abruptly with the death of the last of the Medici line.

A powerful view of the Renaissance

It’s colorful historical characters are observed through a sweep of history where sparks fly and a new world emerges.