History Catalogue 2006.qxp - Blackwell Publishing

Florence120–1575, AoryofJohn, emy NajThe theCelticCountries,Law, John Ceri avies,RENAISSANCENEW IN 2006A History of Florence1200–1575JOHN M. NAJEMYCornell UniversityFlorence during the Renaissance is famously known as thecentre for the rebirth of scholarship, literature and the arts.But it was also an autonomous republic and a site ofinnovative experiments in government, a major economicpower that produced great wealth and yet underwentrecurrent fiscal crises, and a locus of conflicts both amongsocial classes and between family-based factions groundedin patronage and the exercise of private violence.In this history of Florence,distinguished historian JohnNajemy discusses all themajor watersheds inFlorentine history from1200 to 1575, including: theformation of an élite ofgreat families, earlyconflicts of élite and’popolo’, the crisis of the1340s, the revolutions of1378-1382, the warsagainst Milan, the fiscalcrisis of the 1420s and the riseand fall of the Medici regime, the republican revival in theage of Savonarola and Machiavelli, and the decline of therepublic and the emergence of the principate after 1530.His account weaves together the intellectual, cultural,economic, religious, and political developments of Florence,capturing its transformation from a medieval guildcommune into an aristocratic republic and finally into aprincely and territorial state.intheRenaisance elAsian Travel in the RenaissanceelDani Carey,Edited by DANIEL CAREYNational University of Ireland, GalwayASIAN TRAVEL IN THE RENAISSANCE looks at travel in Asia for thepurposes of trade, colonialism, and religious conversion by a diversearray of Portuguese, Dutch, Spanish, Italian, and English figures. Thebook comprises a series of essays written by international scholars,each of which focuses on a particular aspect of religious, cultural,political, and economic exchange. Collectively, the essays establish theimportance of Asia as a place of aspiration and experience in the early modern period.SERIES: RENAISSANCE STUDIES SPECIAL ISSUES256 PAGES / 1-4051-1160-7 PB / 2004The Renaissance and the CelticCountriesEdited by CERI DAVIES & JOHN E. LAWUniversity of Wales, SwanseaWritten by leading scholars in the field, this revealing volume shedsnew light on the Renaissance in Ireland, Wales, and Scotland. Thestudies show that by the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries theCeltic countries were an integral part of the wider EuropeanRenaissance, and demonstrate how Celtic writers, scholars and patronscontributed to the cultural developments of the period.SERIES: RENAISSANCE STUDIES SPECIAL ISSUES256 PAGES / 1-4051-2063-0 PB / 200414Based on the mass of scholarship on Florentine history, andon a first-hand understanding and close reading of theprimary sources, Najemy has created an original history ofFlorence that will command the interest and attention ofboth scholars and general readers for years to come.448 PAGES / 1-4051-1954-3 HB / JULY 2006JOURNALSRenaissance StudiesesStudi sanceRenai: IndexerEdited by JOHN LAWJournal of the Society for Renaissance Studieswww.blackwellpublishing.com/REST