The House of Medici
Its Rise and Fall

It was filled with good storytelling and I learned a lot. The focus was a little back-and-forth between Cosimo and Giovanni near the beginning, which made it a little confusing at first, but most of the book was well-paced, spending most of the time on the more important and admirable characters and more briefly mentioning the less notable ones. When it got to Pope Leo X it there were so many names at play that it was a little difficult to follow via audio alone; I did rewind a few times, which helped. This wasn't a terrible thing, as it painted a fuller picture and I felt like it avoided oversimplifying, which I appreciate. I do wish it had talked a little more about Catherine de Medici, but the book was packed with so much other interesting information that the book will stand on its own as well worth anyone's time.

I'm somewhat torn about this book. The writing is well done and the subject matter, the Medici, SHOULD be interesting. But the author seems to focus on the more trivial details of this family's life and times. So much detail goes in to describing what the Medici liked to eat, what they liked to wear......more

Ever gone into a second-hand bookshop? Have you glanced over the shelves of books, dusty and overlooked, their authors fading into forgetting? Writing a book is a tilt against futility, a challenge to eternity and entropy – but the shelves of second-hand bookshops tell us that almost all such challe......more

I have been meaning to read about the Medicis for a while and while Hibbert's work is considered outdated by many today, it still felt like it would be the most comprehensive introduction to this family and this period of Florentine history. I was not wrong. I enjoyed the book and got to know the ba......more

I should have read Guicciardini instead. This wasn’t a terrible popular history but, it dodged interpretation and sought to exhibit the grisly and garish. I continue to be fascinated by Leo X. Synopsis: Florentine brand excels at corrupting democracy and enhancing a corresponding aesthetic. Credit is......more