Italy

An extraordinary account of how the Christian Revolution forged the Western imagination “A galloping tour of Christianity’s influence across the last 2,000 years.” —New York Times Crucifixion, the Romans believed, was the worst fate imaginable, a punishment reserved for slaves. How...

An acclaimed scholar tells the full, breathtaking history of Rome, from its emergence in the Iron Age to the capture of Constantinople in the thirteenth century When we think of “ancient Romans” today, many picture the toga-clad figures of Cicero and Caesar, presiding over a republic, and...

The harrowing story of one of history's most compelling military campaigns. In An Army at Dawn—winner of the Pulitzer Prize—Rick Atkinson provided a dramatic and authoritative history of the Allied triumph in North Africa. Now, in The Day of Battle, he follows the American and British armies...

A dazzling history of the modest family that rose to become one of the most powerful in Europe, The Medici is a remarkably modern story of power, money, and ambition. Against the background of an age that saw the rebirth of ancient and classical learning, Paul Strathern explores the intensely...

Brunelleschi's Dome is the story of how a Renaissance genius bent men, materials, and the very forces of nature to build an architectural wonder we continue to marvel at today. Denounced at first as a madman, Brunelleschi was celebrated at the end as a genius....

Acclaimed WWII historian James Holland both narrates and reframes the controversial first months of the Italian Campaign and sets a new standard in the chronicling of war....

Did Garibaldi do Italy a disservice when he helped its disparate parts achieve unity? Was the goal of political unification a mistake....

Prizewinning historian Chris Wickham defies the conventional view of the Dark Ages in European history with a work of remarkable scope and rigorous yet accessible scholarship. Drawing on a wealth of new material and featuring a thoughtful synthesis of historical and archaeological approaches...

An extraordinary chronicle of Venice, its people, and its grandeur Thomas Madden’s majestic, sprawling history of Venice is the first full portrait of the city in English in almost thirty years....

The story of Italian art is one of the greatest in human history: a golden thread that begins in ancient Rome, weaves through the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, and continues to shape the way we understand beauty, faith, and the world today.

It was seven years ago that Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil achieved a record-breaking four-year run on the New York Times bestseller list. John Berendt's inimitable brand of nonfiction brought the dark mystique of Savannah so startlingly to life for millions of people that tourism to...

The Florentines presents a sweeping and magisterial 400-year history of both the city and the people who gave birth to the Renaissance....

The Borgia family have become a byword for evil. Corruption, incest, ruthless megalomania, avarice, and vicious cruelty - all have been associated with their name. And yet, paradoxically, this family lived when the Renaissance was coming into its full flowering in Italy....

""Dramatic, heartbreaking and sweeping in scope."" —Wall Street Journal The acclaimed author of A Train in Winter returns with the ""moving finale"" (The Economist) of her Resistance Quartet—the powerful and inspiring true story of the women of the partisan resistance who fought against...

In the nonfiction tradition of John Berendt and Erik Larson, the author of the #1 NYT bestseller The Lost City of the Monkey God presents a gripping account of crime and punishment in the lush hills surrounding Florence as he seeks to uncover one of the most infamous figures in Italian history...

Each chapter paints a fascinating portrait of a single general, offering in-depth insight into his leadership skills and victories as well as each one's pioneering strategies....

New York Times bestselling author William Alexander takes readers on the surprisingly twisty journey of the beloved tomato in this fascinating and erudite microhistory. The tomato gets no respect. Never has. Lost in the dustbin of history for centuries, accused of being vile and poisonous...

Why does Rome continue to exert a hold on our imagination? City of the Seven Hills, spiritual home of Catholicism, city of the artistic imagination - Rome has inspired, charmed, and tempted empire-builders, dreamers, writers, and travelers across the 27 centuries of its existence....

An unprecedented portrait of the Renaissance-era Borgia family and their storied milieu, from the New York Times bestselling author of The Tudors “A vivid and at times startling reappraisal of one of the most notorious dynasties in history . . . If you thought you knew the Borgias, this book...

The Renaissance in Florence conjures images of beautiful frescoes and elegant buildings - the handiwork of the city's artists and architects. But equally important were geniuses of a different sort: Florence's manuscript hunters, scribes, scholars, and booksellers....

The Annals also provides a vivid account of the violent suppression of the revolt led by Boudicca in Britain, the great fire of Rome under Nero, and the subsequent bloody persecution of the Christians....

Leonardo da Vinci, Niccolò Machiavelli, and Cesare Borgia - three iconic figures whose intersecting lives provide the basis for this astonishing work of narrative history....

A true crime investigation into the murder of the relatives of Albert Einstein, set against the backdrop of Nazi-occupied Florence during WWII. Florence, August 1944. Fifteen miles southeast of the city, a unit of German soldiers arrive at Il Focardo, the home of Robert Einstein, first cousin of...

WINNER OF THE INTERNATIONAL SKIING HISTORY ASSOCIATION'S ULLR AWARD, the epic story of the US Army’s 10th Mountain Division, whose elite soldiers broke the last line of German defenses in Italy’s mountains in 1945, spearheading the Allied advance to the Alps and final victory. At the start...

This audiobook narrated by Mack Sanderson paints an unforgettable portrait of two towering artists of the Renaissance whose decades-long rivalry spurred both to greater heights.