The Building of Renaissance Florence: An Economic and Social History

by Professor Richard A. Goldthwaite

Awarded the Howard R. Marraro Prize by the American Historical Association "Always fascinating... The reader will get from Goldthwaite's book on the economics of architecture a more lively and more authentic impression of life in Renaissance Florence than from many more general descriptions of Florentine culture."--Felix Gilbert, New York Review of Books.

Genres: History, Economics, Italy, Art History, Nonfiction, Renaissance

480 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1980

Reviews

[Toni · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a tough read. Not only was it incredibly dry, but the actually writing style itself was often garrulous and convoluted; what could have been stated simply was instead written in an over-complicated sentence. It reads like a thesis, where the author was more concerned with cramming as much information as he could onto the pages rather than making sure he could be easily understood. And it is A LOT of information; Goldthwaite did not skimp on his research, that is for certain. He does state at the beginning that there isn't a great deal of documentation concerning the economy during the Renaissance in Florence, so much of his writing is based on specific cases, from which he makes generalizations, but at the end of it all, he does caution against taking these assumptions as gospel, which I highly approve of. The book itself is well-researched and informative, I just wish it was written better; I know I didn't absorb even half of the information presented here simply because it was so dry to read!