What Life Was Like at the Rebirth of Genius: Renaissance Italy, AD 1400-1550

What Life Was Like

by Denise Dersin, Richard Stapleford

Explores the civilization of Renaissance Italy, including the wars between city-states, Vatican intrigues, architecture, literature, art, fashion, and courtship rituals

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Art History, Renaissance, Reference

168 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

The illustrations are gorgeous and if all you do is look at them and read captions and sidebars, you’ll have gotten 80% of the book. It’s hard to know who this was written for, but I suspect children or young adults. It’s pretty sanitized and gets some things wrong. For example, it completely misrepresents the writings of Isotta Nogarola, is very superficial about many of the major personages, and skips lightly over some of the most interesting (Ludovico Sforza).

[Coleen Dailey · Rating 5 out of 5]

O.K. so I know you're thinking this sounds like a children's book but really it isn't. I find Time-Life books to be a good overview of the period and the artwork is fantastic. Mostly reproductions of art that was done at or around the time. For a while it will be the closest I get to Florence. I also found out about some very interesting women that I am going to research more. This would have been a good time for a woman to be alive if she was from a wealthy family who would let her indulge her interests and passions but not so good otherwise.

[Bec · Rating 3 out of 5]

The pictures were nice.

[Nancy H · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is fascinating look at Italy and the powers that were vitally important in shaping the whole era of the Renaissance. It gives the reader insight into what things were actually like for the famous names that many of us had only heard of before but didn't have an accurate idea of what their lives were like.

[Alice · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you want to know anything about the Italian Renaissance, you MUST read this book. It's so comprehensive. You learn everything about how women from different social classes behaved, how houses were divided, the various ruling families, and the famous persons of the day, whether they be popes or painters. There's not subject untouched in this book. It's a quick read, accessible to all ages, with plenty of pictures to give context to what's written on the page. It's a beautiful book and well worth it.

[Are · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is a whole series of these books at the Provo library. It was just enough information to keep my interest peaked. I really enjoyed it.

[Kelly Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun boom to read. Not a whole lot of new information. I would have enjoyed a little more about the lives of women,even if it had to be extrapolated.