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Inventing the Renaissance

The Myth of a Golden Age

by Ada Palmer ...

A New Yorker Best Book of 2025An irreverent new take on the Renaissance, which reveals it as anything but Europe’s golden age.From the darkness of a plagued and war-torn Middle Ages, the Renaissance (we’re told) heralds the dawning of a new world—a halcyon age of art, prosperity, and rebirth. Hogwash! or so says award-winning novelist and historian Ada Palmer. In Inventing the Renaissance,... ... Read more

Was $17.29 USD Now $8.69 USD

A New Yorker Best Book of 2025An irreverent new take on the Renaissance, which reveals it as anything but Europe’s golden age.From the darkness of a plagued and war-torn Middle Ages, the Renaissance (we’re told) heralds the dawning of a new world—a halcyon age of art, prosperity, and rebirth. Hogwash! or so says award-winning novelist and historian Ada Palmer. In Inventing the Renaissance,...
... Read more
Manners, Customs, And Dress During The Middle Ages, And During The Renaissance Period (Mobi Classics)

by Paul Lacroix ...

Illustrated with Nineteen Chromolithographic Prints by F. Kellerhoven and upwards of Four Hundred Engravings on Wood."The several successive editions of "The Arts of the Middle Ages and Period of the Renaissance" sufficiently testify to its appreciation by the public. The object of that work was to introduce the reader to a branch of learning to which access had hitherto appeared only permitted to ... Read more

$0.99 USD or Free with Kobo Plus

Illustrated with Nineteen Chromolithographic Prints by F. Kellerhoven and upwards of Four Hundred Engravings on Wood."The several successive editions of "The Arts of the Middle Ages and Period of the Renaissance" sufficiently testify to its appreciation by the public. The object of that work was to introduce the reader to a branch of learning to which access had hitherto appeared only permitted to
... Read more
Montaigne: Complete Essays

by Michel de Montaigne ...

Michel de Montaigne was one of the most influential figures of the Renaissance, singlehandedly responsible for popularising the essay as a literary form.In 1572, Montaigne retired to his estates in order to devote himself to leisure, reading and reflection. There he wrote his constantly expanding 'essays', inspired by the ideas he found in books from his library and his own experience.He discusses ... Read more

$0.99 USD or Free with Kobo Plus

Michel de Montaigne was one of the most influential figures of the Renaissance, singlehandedly responsible for popularising the essay as a literary form.In 1572, Montaigne retired to his estates in order to devote himself to leisure, reading and reflection. There he wrote his constantly expanding 'essays', inspired by the ideas he found in books from his library and his own experience.He discusses
... Read more
Bessie Blount: Mistress to Henry VIII

Mistress to Henry VIII

by Elizabeth Norton ...

The earliest known and longest lasting mistress of Henry VIII, Bessie Blount was the kings first love. More beautiful that Anne Boleyn or any of Henrys other wives or concubines, Bessies beauty and other charms ensured that she turned heads, winning a place at court as one of Catherine of Aragons ladies. Within months she was partnering the king in dancing and she rose to be the woman with the ... Read more

$10.59 USD

The earliest known and longest lasting mistress of Henry VIII, Bessie Blount was the kings first love. More beautiful that Anne Boleyn or any of Henrys other wives or concubines, Bessies beauty and other charms ensured that she turned heads, winning a place at court as one of Catherine of Aragons ladies. Within months she was partnering the king in dancing and she rose to be the woman with the
... Read more
Renaissance Ethnography and the Invention of the Human

New Worlds, Maps and Monsters

by Surekha Davies ...

Series Book 24 - Cambridge Social and Cultural Histories
Giants, cannibals and other monsters were a regular feature of Renaissance illustrated maps, inhabiting the Americas alongside other indigenous peoples. In a new approach to views of distant peoples, Surekha Davies analyzes this archive alongside prints, costume books and geographical writing. Using sources from Iberia, France, the German lands, the Low Countries, Italy and England, Davies argues ... Read more

$31.99 USD

Giants, cannibals and other monsters were a regular feature of Renaissance illustrated maps, inhabiting the Americas alongside other indigenous peoples. In a new approach to views of distant peoples, Surekha Davies analyzes this archive alongside prints, costume books and geographical writing. Using sources from Iberia, France, the German lands, the Low Countries, Italy and England, Davies argues
... Read more
God's Fury, England's Fire

A New History of the English Civil Wars

by Michael Braddick ...

A brilliantly researched and vividly written history of the English Civil Wars, from one of Britain's most prominent Civil War historiansThe sequence of civil wars that ripped England apart in the seventeenth century was the single most traumatic event in this country between the medieval Black Death and the two world wars. Indeed, it is likely that a greater percentage of the population were ... Read more

$20.19 USD

A brilliantly researched and vividly written history of the English Civil Wars, from one of Britain's most prominent Civil War historiansThe sequence of civil wars that ripped England apart in the seventeenth century was the single most traumatic event in this country between the medieval Black Death and the two world wars. Indeed, it is likely that a greater percentage of the population were
... Read more
London Lives

Poverty, Crime and the Making of a Modern City, 1690–1800

by Tim Hitchcock, Robert Shoemaker ...

London Lives is a fascinating new study which exposes, for the first time, the lesser-known experiences of eighteenth-century thieves, paupers, prostitutes and highwaymen. It charts the experiences of hundreds of thousands of Londoners who found themselves submerged in poverty or prosecuted for crime, and surveys their responses to illustrate the extent to which plebeian Londoners influenced the ... Read more

$36.09 USD

London Lives is a fascinating new study which exposes, for the first time, the lesser-known experiences of eighteenth-century thieves, paupers, prostitutes and highwaymen. It charts the experiences of hundreds of thousands of Londoners who found themselves submerged in poverty or prosecuted for crime, and surveys their responses to illustrate the extent to which plebeian Londoners influenced the
... Read more
The Bookseller of Florence

The Story of the Manuscripts That Illuminated the Renaissance

by Ross King ...

The New York Times–bestselling author of Brunelleschi's Dome captures the Renaissance spirit in this biography of "the king of the world's booksellers."During the Renaissance, Florence's manuscript hunters, scribes, scholars, and booksellers blew the dust off a thousand years of history and, through the discovery and diffusion of ancient knowledge, imagined a new and enlightened world.At the heart ... Read more

$21.59 USD or Free with Kobo Plus

The New York Times–bestselling author of Brunelleschi's Dome captures the Renaissance spirit in this biography of "the king of the world's booksellers."During the Renaissance, Florence's manuscript hunters, scribes, scholars, and booksellers blew the dust off a thousand years of history and, through the discovery and diffusion of ancient knowledge, imagined a new and enlightened world.At the heart
... Read more
The Catalogue of Shipwrecked Books

Christopher Columbus, His Son, and the Quest to Build the World's Greatest Library

by Edward Wilson-Lee ...

This impeccably researched and “adventure-packed” (The Washington Post) account of the obsessive quest by Christopher Columbus’s son to create the greatest library in the world is “the stuff of Hollywood blockbusters” (NPR) and offers a vivid picture of Europe on the verge of becoming modern.At the peak of the Age of Exploration, Hernando Colón sailed with his father Christopher Columbus on his ... Read more

$12.99 USD

This impeccably researched and “adventure-packed” (The Washington Post) account of the obsessive quest by Christopher Columbus’s son to create the greatest library in the world is “the stuff of Hollywood blockbusters” (NPR) and offers a vivid picture of Europe on the verge of becoming modern.At the peak of the Age of Exploration, Hernando Colón sailed with his father Christopher Columbus on his
... Read more
A World Lit Only by Fire

The Medieval Mind and the Renaissance - Portrait of an Age

by William Manchester ...

An absorbing history of the Middle Ages from the acclaimed historian William Manchester, author of The Last Lion**.**From tales of chivalrous knights to the barbarity of trial by ordeal, no era has been a greater source of awe, horror, and wonder than the Middle Ages. In handsomely crafted prose, and with the grace and authority of his extraordinary gift for narrative history, William Manchester ... Read more

$9.99 USD

An absorbing history of the Middle Ages from the acclaimed historian William Manchester, author of The Last Lion**.**From tales of chivalrous knights to the barbarity of trial by ordeal, no era has been a greater source of awe, horror, and wonder than the Middle Ages. In handsomely crafted prose, and with the grace and authority of his extraordinary gift for narrative history, William Manchester
... Read more
Raphael, Painter in Rome

A Novel

by Stephanie Storey ...

Another Fabulous Art History Thriller by the Bestselling Author of Oil and Marble, Featuring the Master of Renaissance Perfection: Raphael!Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling is one of the most iconic masterpieces of the Renaissance. Here, in Raphael, Painter in Rome, Storey tells of its creation as never before: through the eyes of Michelangelo’s fiercest rival—the young, beautiful, brilliant ... Read more

Was $16.99 USD Now $1.99 USD

Another Fabulous Art History Thriller by the Bestselling Author of Oil and Marble, Featuring the Master of Renaissance Perfection: Raphael!Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling is one of the most iconic masterpieces of the Renaissance. Here, in Raphael, Painter in Rome, Storey tells of its creation as never before: through the eyes of Michelangelo’s fiercest rival—the young, beautiful, brilliant
... Read more
Tudors: The History of England from Henry VIII to Elizabeth I

by Peter Ackroyd ...

Series Book 2 - The History of England
Peter Ackroyd, one of Britain's most acclaimed writers, brings the age of the Tudors to vivid life in this monumental book in his The History of England series, charting the course of English history from Henry VIII's cataclysmic break with Rome to the epic rule of Elizabeth I.Rich in detail and atmosphere, Peter Ackroyd's Tudors is the story of Henry VIII's relentless pursuit of both the perfect ... Read more

$12.99 USD

Peter Ackroyd, one of Britain's most acclaimed writers, brings the age of the Tudors to vivid life in this monumental book in his The History of England series, charting the course of English history from Henry VIII's cataclysmic break with Rome to the epic rule of Elizabeth I.Rich in detail and atmosphere, Peter Ackroyd's Tudors is the story of Henry VIII's relentless pursuit of both the perfect
... Read more
Ocean

A History of the Atlantic Before Columbus

by John Haywood ...

A magisterial cultural history of the Atlantic Ocean before Columbus, ranging from the early shaping of the continents and the emergence of homo sapiens to the story of shipbuilding, navigation, maritime exploration, slavery, and nascent European imperialism.A dazzling and ambitious history of the pre-Columbian Atlantic seas, Ocean is a story that begins with the formation of the mid-Atlantic ... Read more

$22.99 USD

A magisterial cultural history of the Atlantic Ocean before Columbus, ranging from the early shaping of the continents and the emergence of homo sapiens to the story of shipbuilding, navigation, maritime exploration, slavery, and nascent European imperialism.A dazzling and ambitious history of the pre-Columbian Atlantic seas, Ocean is a story that begins with the formation of the mid-Atlantic
... Read more
The Unbound Prometheus

Technological Change and Industrial Development in Western Europe from 1750 to the Present

by David S. Landes ...

For over thirty years David S. Landes's The Unbound Prometheus has offered an unrivalled history of industrial revolution and economic development in Europe. Now, in this updated edition, the author reframes and reasserts his original arguments in the light of debates about globalisation and comparative economic growth. The book begins with a classic account of the characteristics, progress, and ... Read more

$36.89 USD

For over thirty years David S. Landes's The Unbound Prometheus has offered an unrivalled history of industrial revolution and economic development in Europe. Now, in this updated edition, the author reframes and reasserts his original arguments in the light of debates about globalisation and comparative economic growth. The book begins with a classic account of the characteristics, progress, and
... Read more
Going Dutch

How England Plundered Holland's Glory

by Lisa Jardine ...

$9.99 USD
Francis I

The Knight-King

by Glenn Richardson ...

Series Book 61 - Renaissance Lives
Francis I of France led one of the most colourful and influential courts of the sixteenth century. Known as the ‘knight–king’, he was a chivalric warrior, a strong ruler and a passionate patron of the arts and of the French nobility. While he faced setbacks and took significant risks, Francis left his successor a kingdom that was larger, better governed and more stable than before.This concise ... Read more

$20.49 USD

Francis I of France led one of the most colourful and influential courts of the sixteenth century. Known as the ‘knight–king’, he was a chivalric warrior, a strong ruler and a passionate patron of the arts and of the French nobility. While he faced setbacks and took significant risks, Francis left his successor a kingdom that was larger, better governed and more stable than before.This concise
... Read more
Sacred Trash

The Lost and Found World of the Cairo Geniza

by Adina Hoffman, Peter Cole ...

Series series Jewish Encounters Series
**NATIONAL JEWISH BOOK AWARD FINALISTPart of the Jewish Encounter series**One May day in 1896, at a dining-room table in Cambridge, England, a meeting took place between a Romanian-born maverick Jewish intellectual and twin learned Presbyterian Scotswomen, who had assembled to inspect several pieces of rag paper and parchment. It was the unlikely start to what would prove a remarkable, continent ... Read more

$13.99 USD

**NATIONAL JEWISH BOOK AWARD FINALISTPart of the Jewish Encounter series**One May day in 1896, at a dining-room table in Cambridge, England, a meeting took place between a Romanian-born maverick Jewish intellectual and twin learned Presbyterian Scotswomen, who had assembled to inspect several pieces of rag paper and parchment. It was the unlikely start to what would prove a remarkable, continent
... Read more
Isabella of Castile

Europe's First Great Queen

by Giles Tremlett ...

A major biography of the queen who transformed Spain into a principal global power, and sponsored the voyage that would open the New World.In 1474, when Castile was the largest, strongest, and most populous kingdom in Hispania (present day Spain and Portugal), a twenty-three-year-old woman named Isabella ascended the throne. At a time when successful queens regnant were few and far between, ... Read more

$20.09 USD

A major biography of the queen who transformed Spain into a principal global power, and sponsored the voyage that would open the New World.In 1474, when Castile was the largest, strongest, and most populous kingdom in Hispania (present day Spain and Portugal), a twenty-three-year-old woman named Isabella ascended the throne. At a time when successful queens regnant were few and far between,
... Read more
Women’s Patronage and Gendered Cultural Networks in Early Modern Europe

Vittoria della Rovere, Grand Duchess of Tuscany

by Adelina Modesti ...

Series series Visual Culture in Early Modernity
This book examines the sociocultural networks between the courts of early modern Italy and Europe, focusing on the Florentine Medici court, and the cultural patronage and international gendered networks developed by the Grand Duchess of Tuscany, Vittoria della Rovere.Adelina Modesti uses Grand Duchess Vittoria as an exemplar of pan-European 'matronage' and proposes a new matrilineal model of ... Read more

$61.99 USD

This book examines the sociocultural networks between the courts of early modern Italy and Europe, focusing on the Florentine Medici court, and the cultural patronage and international gendered networks developed by the Grand Duchess of Tuscany, Vittoria della Rovere.Adelina Modesti uses Grand Duchess Vittoria as an exemplar of pan-European 'matronage' and proposes a new matrilineal model of
... Read more
India before Europe

by Catherine B. Asher, Cynthia Talbot ...

India is a land of enormous diversity. Cross-cultural influences are everywhere in evidence, in the food people eat, the clothes they wear, and in the places they worship. This was ever the case, and at no time more so than in the India that existed from c. 1200 to 1750, before European intervention. In this thoughtfully revised and updated second edition, readers are taken on a richly illustrated ... Read more

$34.49 USD

India is a land of enormous diversity. Cross-cultural influences are everywhere in evidence, in the food people eat, the clothes they wear, and in the places they worship. This was ever the case, and at no time more so than in the India that existed from c. 1200 to 1750, before European intervention. In this thoughtfully revised and updated second edition, readers are taken on a richly illustrated
... Read more
A Nearly Infallible History of the Reformation

Commemorating 500 years of Popes, Protestants, Reformers, Radicals and Other Assorted Irritants

by Nick Page ...

500 years ago, Martin Luther nailed his ideas to a church door - and the Reformation began. Or maybe it was a little more complicated than that.Nick Page brings his skills as an unlicensed historian to bear on this key period in European (and world) history in order to uncover everything you need to know about the Reformation - with a fair few bits you never wanted to know thrown in for good ... Read more

$3.99 USD

500 years ago, Martin Luther nailed his ideas to a church door - and the Reformation began. Or maybe it was a little more complicated than that.Nick Page brings his skills as an unlicensed historian to bear on this key period in European (and world) history in order to uncover everything you need to know about the Reformation - with a fair few bits you never wanted to know thrown in for good
... Read more
England Under the Tudors

by G.R. Elton ...

Series series Routledge Classics
‘Anyone who writes about the Tudor century puts his head into a number of untamed lions’ mouths.’ G.R. Elton, PrefaceGeoffrey Elton (1921–1994) was one of the great historians of the Tudor period. England Under the Tudors is his major work and an outstanding history of a crucial and turbulent period in British and European history.Revised several times since its first publication in 1955, England ... Read more

$35.99 USD

‘Anyone who writes about the Tudor century puts his head into a number of untamed lions’ mouths.’ G.R. Elton, PrefaceGeoffrey Elton (1921–1994) was one of the great historians of the Tudor period. England Under the Tudors is his major work and an outstanding history of a crucial and turbulent period in British and European history.Revised several times since its first publication in 1955, England
... Read more
The Innocents of Florence

The Renaissance Discovery of Childhood

by Joseph Luzzi ...

**One of The New Yorker's Best Books of 2025How a Florentine orphanage rescued thousands of children and revolutionized childhood education amid the splendor of Renaissance art.**The story begins with the abandonment of the newborn Agata Smeralda on February 5, 1445, in Florence’s Hospital of the Innocents, the first—but certainly not the last—child to be left at its doors. In an era when children ... Read more

$20.59 USD

**One of The New Yorker's Best Books of 2025How a Florentine orphanage rescued thousands of children and revolutionized childhood education amid the splendor of Renaissance art.**The story begins with the abandonment of the newborn Agata Smeralda on February 5, 1445, in Florence’s Hospital of the Innocents, the first—but certainly not the last—child to be left at its doors. In an era when children
... Read more
Christopher Marlowe : Poet & Spy

Poet & Spy

by Park Honan ...

Christopher Marlowe: Poet & Spy is the most thorough and detailed life of Marlowe since John Bakeless's in 1942. It has new material on Marlowe in relation to Canterbury, also on his home life, schooling, and six and a half years at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, and includes fresh data on his reading, teachers, and early achievements, including a new letter with a new date for the famous ... Read more

$26.59 USD

Christopher Marlowe: Poet & Spy is the most thorough and detailed life of Marlowe since John Bakeless's in 1942. It has new material on Marlowe in relation to Canterbury, also on his home life, schooling, and six and a half years at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, and includes fresh data on his reading, teachers, and early achievements, including a new letter with a new date for the famous
... Read more

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