The Medici: Annotated and Illustrated in Two Complete Volumes by George Frederick Young. The Secrecy, the conspirators, the Rise and Fall of the House of the Medici. In this exquisitely written book, you get the history of thirteen generations of a family who brought Western Europe out of the cultural darkness of their time, the city of Florence to the pinnacle of its glory, and the art of masters like Michelangelo and Botticelli to the world. The Medici is a must read for anyone interested in the Renaissance. It's probably not much of an exaggeration to claim that without Medici patronage of the arts there very well would not have been an Italian Renaissance. Acquire the knowledge about the history of Europe in perhaps its most important period, about the birth of Science,and about the great collections of Art possessed by Florence. Their rise, their course upon the mountain tops of power, and their decline and end-and to keep the parts always in subordination to the whole.
