The Rise and Fall of the Medici Dynasty: A Comprehensive History of Florence's Most Influential Family

Robert M: Highly suggest reading before going to Florence, informative and easy read. Very interesting!

Book was in good shape.

United States on Oct 20, 2023

Lynda R. Neely: This is very thorough and well done. Just getting the names and titles correct is a great feat. There were times I wanted to live in Italy and other times I was no where near there. What a family!

United States on Sep 03, 2023

dr liberty: What can I say? This is the definitive work on the Medici's (at least in my opinion). Well written and an easy read. Highly recommended.

United States on Jul 25, 2023

DuncanL: This book is a struggle to read. An interesting history spoilt by mind-numbing minutiae.

United Kingdom on Mar 08, 2023

Hilary L: Christopher Hibbert writes a gripping story. He describes his characters so vividly that I got a feeling for what it must have been like to live alongside them in those times. The family tree is useful but a timeline of major events would have given extra clarity.

United Kingdom on Feb 08, 2023

Kindle_Customer: The first third of the book describes the Art and Architecture created by artists enjoying the patronage of the House of Medici.
The rest indeed deals with politics, much of it gory, and the rise and fall of the House of Medici.
So why 3 stars ? There are very few pictures.
The politics are difficult to follow since there are no maps and no genealogy trees.

United States on Jan 14, 2023

TC137: This is a very readable history. Mr Hibbert does have a way of making his topic very interesting and makes you want to keep reading. However, as a history student, I have to wonder at how much he left out and perhaps embellished. This book was written in 1974 and it shows; the author appears to skirt over the roles of many notable members of the family - namely the women, mentioning them only in passing and this includes Catherine de Medici. He also seems to have relied on mainly secondary sources with primary sources at a minimum. This does make me wonder how much 'creative licence' has been used especially when describing in great detail some of the banquets and eating habits of members of the family.

He doesn't really tell us about the rise and fall in the traditional sense. He concentrates, instead, on detailed information of the artworks and artists involved. I feel this book was rather rushed in places, especially towards the end and leaves one with rather a lot of questions rather than answers. In essence, however, this is a good place to start if one is interested in the Medici but don't rely on it to give you a good, solid history of the rise and fall of the family.

United Kingdom on Feb 25, 2021

MichaelR: We recently travelled to Italy where our daughter was in a study abroad program. I found the country fascinating and the people friendly. It was hard not to get swept away in history. In Venice the Medici's touch is everywhere. I bought and read this book after we got home and wish I had read it before we left. It is an easy read but it is not fiction- it is written from a historical perspective and could be used in any history class in college. If you are looking for a light read this probably isn't it but it is filled with information and if you enjoy history it is easy reading and fascinating. I was curious how such a powerful and wealthy family could just disappear and it answers that question and more. It describes their rise, their wealth, their philanthropy, their competition with other prominent families and even their fighting with the Pope. (there were Medici's who were Popes). It gives a very clear picture of the history of the time and how Italy was unique in Europe being limited in resources and having city states rather then a central government. An excellent book and I recommend it to anyone interested in Italian history.

United States on Jul 05, 2015

NK: The first half of this book was a good read and I would give this 4 out of 5 stars. The reason being is that the early Medici's, especially the first 3 or 4 were the most interesting and really put the Medici's on the map. The second half of the book about the later Medicis was not very interesting because these Medicis were really just resting on the achievements of their more Illustrious predecessors and did not really achieve much in their own right. I would give the second half of the book 3 out of 5 stars.

I was also disappointed that although Catherine Medici was mentioned and her marriage into the French Royal family, nothing more was mentioned. She led a very interesting life and had to deal with a cut throat French Court during the reigns of her various sons.

United Kingdom on Oct 21, 2013

Vivq: I bought this on my Kindle while visiting Florence and there is no doubt that the book was enhanced by having visited the churches and palaces built during the heyday of the Medicis. Any history of the Italian states in the 13th-16th centuries is complex, as is any history of the Papacy and this history was no exception. At times the details of all the factions within Florence and relations with the other Italian states, France, Spain and the Holy Roman Empire could be overwhelming and I have to admit a bit of fast forwarding to get to bits that I found more interesting. However Christopher Hibbert's great ability to tell a story shone through and made the book enjoyable.

United Kingdom on May 07, 2013