Magnifico: The Brilliant Life and Violent Times of Lorenzo de' Medici (An Italian Renaissance History)

As a non-academic who just enjoys reading about history, I found this book utterly fascinating. Many times I simply put the Kindle down and said out loud, "You can't make this stuff up!" I had never heard of the Pazzi conspiracy, but I've read several books about the plot and its various characters since, and am considering a trip to Florence next year.Though heavily footnoted and indexed, I found the book highly readable and well within the reach of anybody who just wants to read a thickly plotted, amazing story -- and best of all, this one's true.One drawback - the maps in the Kindle book are too small and fuzzy to be useful. I found it helpful to print a map of 15th Century Italy from an Internet site and keep it by me as I read. Also, there are portraits of many of the people mentioned in the book on Wikipedia, as well as photographs of sites in Italy, Medici castles, etc.

Good read! A real page turner! You just have to be careful as a lot of the names & personalities & regions have the same names & it can get confusing. Still, a great read!

Sometimes, it seems to me that it would take a committee to produce an adequate biography of Lorenzo de' Medici. He was a many-sided jewel of a man, flashing his facets in so many directions that no single author could be the master of all of them. He was a sportsman, diplomat, political boss, essayist, poet, musician and connoisseur of all the arts. On the personal level he was a dutiful husband and loving father of a large family; he also had a reputation as man with a voracious appetite for extra-marital sex. Some 2,000 of his letters survive, along with more than 20,000 addressed to him by people from all over Europe: ambassadors, popes, princes, dukes, kings and their consorts, as well as friends and ordinary people from all walks of life. The sheer volume of material by and about Lorenzo is overwhelming.Although Unger doesn't devote a lot of space to Lorenzo's personal life, he suggests/speculates that several of Il Magnifico's lovers were male, which could be true, but this is impossible to prove or disprove, and the author doesn't really make a case for his claim. One of the possible male lovers he mentions is the poet Luigi Pulci, who was many years older than Lorenzo, which in the sexual "etiquette" of that era would have made him the dominant partner. But given that he was a Medici client and Lorenzo's social inferior, it seems unlikely he could have played that role with Lorenzo. As for Lorenzo's friend Braccio Martelli-- he seems to have been vigorously heterosexual, and nothing Unger notes by or about him suggests a sexual interest in men, but who knows? Poet-scholar Angelo Poliziano is a definite maybe: he never married; there is some evidence he preferred men to women, and he was deeply, almost slavishly, devoted to Lorenzo.Doing justice to such a complex and many-sided life in a single volume intended for the general reader would be a tall order for any writer, and I suspect that scholars of Renaissance history in general and the Medici in particular will look down their noses at this effort, although they'll no doubt envy Unger his lively writing style. A large majority of his sources are in English, thus ignoring much of the voluminous biography available in Italian. Furthermore, the author makes very little use of archival materials (only two such sources are cited, both available on-line).Worst of all, for this reader at least, the book has no footnotes. Although there are some notes annoyingly appended to the bottom of some pages, and other notes hidden at the back but not indicated in the text, many sources for the facts (if they are indeed facts) presented are undocumented and may leave even the general reader wondering where the information came from. For example, on pages 216-217 the author mentions the birth dates of Lorenzo's children. Several of those dates differ from the dates given by other writers, so it would be interesting to know the source of Unger's information on this topic.The decision not to use "real" footnotes-- the kind that appear as superscript numbers in the text--was the publisher's rather than the author's decision (according to the Comment added by the author to this post), and I think it was an unfortunate choice. Commercial publishers apparently feel that general readers will be so put off by footnote numbers in the text that they won't read the book; hence the use of notes that are NOT indicated in the text, so that when readers want to know the source for a statement, they have to flip to the back and see whether or not this particular item has a source given.But despite these criticisms (which may not matter to most readers) this is a very well written and absorbing narrative. The books is full of penetrating insights into Lorenzo's personality and character. Unger is especially good at telling the various dramatic stories that punctuate Lorenzo's life. He emphasizes the political side of Lorenzo, however, perhaps to the detriment of the many other aspects of his life. I would have liked to have read more about Lorenzo's poetry and other literary works; seen more attention to his patronage of music and musicians, and perhaps read more about his complicated love-life, commented on by many of his contemporaries. But this would have made an already lengthy book too long for a single volume.It's perhaps unfair to judge this work by the standards of scholarly biography, since it's not intended for an academic audience. As it stands, this is by far the best biography of Lorenzo de' Medici available today.

I finished this book with regret, wishing Lorenzo hadn't died so young, and that I could hear more about his role as patron of the Florence Renaissance. Yes, great names pop up as players in his life--Botticello, DaVinci, Michelangelo--but this book emphasizes the political world Lorenzo inhabited, and for me this was essential information. We tend to know the Renalssance by its geniuses and masterpieces rather than by the intense and dangerous politics of the small Italian republics and states. Here we see a very real Lorenzo, dashing, brilliant, artistic, and politically shrewd; though from a fabulously wealthy banking family, he was a prince in Machiavelli's sense.

Having recently traveled to Florence, this book added greater "life" to all that I experienced. I never tire of reading about the Medici. They were such an integral part of Italian history. Unger's book on Lorenzo de' Medici is a well crafted tale of a man who lived an inspired existence.

Reads like a novel masking the research needed to write such a literary work!

"Magnifico" is the sixth and most interesting book I've read this summer on Florence and the Renaissiance. The author's writing style is flowing and an easy read. However, more than any of the other books I've read on this topic, this one captured the essence of the times. It is fascinating that some of the most brilliant artists in the Western World flurished during such a chaotic social and political period. Although scholars disagree on the importance of Lorenzo in encouraging such artists as Michelangelo and Donatello, this book emphasizes the sheer personal power and intellect of a man who managed to hold together a family empire while fostering all forms of art, writing, and philosophical investigation in the midst of political uncertainty.You don't have to be a scholar to enjoy this book. It paints an entertaining, colorful picture of a great man in turbulent times who made his mark forever in history. Definitely worth your time.

Really enjoyed reading this, paints a brilliant portrait of Florence and its political tides during the time Lorenzo. If you find this time interesting, you will love this book. However, I would advise anyone that has not been to Florence, you will not enjoy this nearly as much as if you have seen a lot of the places/things they mention in this book.

Thoroughly enjoyed this book. It provided a historical context and understanding of Lorenzo de Medici’s life and the challenges of living at that time.

I really enjoyed this book. The author covers a lot of ground and certainly puts the politics of the eras in perspective, and simeple terms for the thoise of us perhaps not too well versed in 15th century Italy. Lorenzo come across as not only a brilliant statesman but also as a human being. If you have any interest in the Italian Renassiance then I highly recommend this book.

Bello, ma per alcuni termini ci vuole il dizionario dizionario (inglese scolastico classe terza superiore)

I decided to buy this book after watching the TV show "Medici". I wanted to know more about the Medici family and I bought this book based on the positive reviews and the fact that the writer lived in Florence while he was writing the book. I like the book very much. It is very detailed. The writer uses historical sources and gives a lot of information about the Medici family and the history of the period, not only historical facts but also how the family was living and how the family relationships were. The book includes some photos of paintings related to the Medici and the family tree. It would have been nicer if the photos of the paintings would be in colour instead of being black and white but this would have increased the price.I strongly reccomend the book.

I bought this to pleasure read. Bookshops are closed currently where I live. It was a good read, and the book arrived in great condition within the estimated delivery time. Thanks