Renaissance

Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies

In 1542, after years of witnessing Indian suffering and slavery, Bartolome de Las Casas wrote this indictment against European exploitation and mistreatment of the native peoples of the New World. The document was dedicated to Prince Philip of Spain and appeared in published form in 1552. It carries all the urgency of a moment in history when it still seemed possible to reverse the tide.

Pensees (Penguin Classics)

Compiled after his death, Pascals ""pensées"" (thoughts) are his ideas for a book in defense of faith in a rational world. Pascal analyzes the differences between mathematical and intuitive thinking and attempts to resolve their conflict.

Who Was Leonardo da Vinci? (Who Was...?)

Michel de Montaigne - The Complete Essays (Penguin Classics)

Amazing Leonardo da Vinci Inventions You Can Build Yourself (Build It Yourself series)

Touch the Art: Brush Mona Lisa's Hair (Touch the Art)

On Painting (Penguin Classics)

Fire in the City: Savonarola and the Struggle for the Soul of Renaissance Florence

A gripping and beautifully written narrative that reads like a novel, Fire in the City presents a compelling account of a key moment in the history of the Renaissance, illuminating the remarkable man who dominated the period, the charismatic Girolamo Savonarola.
Lauro Martines, whose decades of scholarship have made him one of the most admired historians of Renaissance Italy, here provides a remarkably fresh perspective on Savonarola, the preacher and agitator who flamed like a comet through late fifteenth-century Florence. The Dominican friar has long been portrayed as a dour, puritanical demagogue who urged his followers to burn their worldly goods in "the bonfire of the vanities." But as Martines shows, this is a caricature of the truth--the version propagated by the wealthy and powerful who feared the political reforms he represented. Here, Savonarola emerges as a complex and subtle man, both a religious and a civic leader--who inspired an outpouring of political debate in a city newly freed from the tyranny of the Medici. In the end, the volatile passions he unleashed--and the powerful families he threatened--sent the friar to his own fiery death. But the fusion of morality and politics that he represented would leave a lasting mark on Renaissance Florence.
For the many readers fascinated by histories of Renaissance Italy--such as Brunelleschi's Dome or Galileo's Daughter, and Martines's acclaimed April Blood--Fire in the City offers a vivid portrait of one of the most memorable characters from that dazzling era.

The Lodger Shakespeare: His Life on Silver Street

A brilliantly drawn detective story with entirely new insights into ShakespeareÂ’s life

In 1612, William Shakespeare gave evidence in a court case at Westminster and it is the only occasion on which his actual spoken words were recorded. The case seems routine—a dispute over an unpaid marriage dowry—but it opens an unexpected window into the dramatist’s famously obscure life. Using the court testimony as a springboard, acclaimed nonfiction writer Charles Nicholl examines this fascinating period in Shakespeare’s life. With evidence from a wide variety of sources, Nicholl creates a compelling, detailed account of the circumstances in which Shakespeare lived and worked during the time in which he wrote such plays as Othello, Measure for Measure, and King Lear. The case also throws new light on the puzzling story of Shakespeare’s collaboration with the hack author and violent brothel owner George Wilkins.

In The Lodger Shakespeare we see the playwright in the daily context of a street in Jacobean London: “one Mr. Shakespeare,” lodging in the room upstairs. Nicholl is one of the great historical detectives of our time and in this atmospheric and exciting book he has created a considerable rarity—something new and original about Shakespeare.

Harlem Stomp! A Cultural History of the Harlem Renaissance

When it was released in 2004, Harlem Stomp! was the first trade book to bring the Harlem Renaissance alive for young adults! Meticulously researched and lavishly illustrated, the book is a veritable time capsule packed with poetry, prose, photographs, full-color paintings, and reproductions of historical documents. Now, after more than three years in hardcover, three starred reviews and a National Book Award nomination, Harlem Stomp! is being released in paperback.