Medieval and Renaissance Books

I was pleased with this seller and the product. The product was as described and it came in a fairly short time. I would buy from this seller again.

I got the book in good time. I ended up having to mail it back just because I dropped the class, but there was nothing wrong with the book.

Most recent edition. Does not go along with NAWM 3rd edition. It must be referring to a more recent edition of that book as well.

This was a Christmas present for my wife. She sings and arranges music. I can only tell you that she is ecstatic about the book, and is excited at the prospect of going on line for the streaming music that comes with.

This book is perhaps the most used textbook in the college music history class. It is a fine book, especially if used along with its companion anthology (2 volumes) Norton Anthology of Western Music: Volume 1: Ancient to Baroque, Norton Anthology of Western Music: Volume 2: Classic to Twentieth Century and recorded anthology (2 volumes with 12 CDs) Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, Fifth Edition, Volume 1: Ancient to Baroque (6 CDs), Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, Fifth Edition, Volume 2: Classic to Twentieth Century (6 CDs). I don't think one could learn much from reading through a music history book, without key listening material.

That said, I agree with other reviewers that this book (with companion anthology and CDs) is seriously over-priced. The total price of this book and its companion anthology and CDs is $76+ $45 + $45 +$82.50 +$82.50 = $331! It is reasonable for any publisher to make profits, but to rake it on students is robbery!

Recommended only to those with deep pockets.

This is a good book for anyone looking for a solid yet succinct introduction to the Renaissance. Don't be fooled into thinking this is a light read by the number of pages or concise format. It is very fast paced and densely packed with information. The book is a very comprehensive treatment of the art and literature of the period although it does not delve in very deep.

The book is organized very logically with very good chapters on Literature & Scholarship, Sculpture, Architecture, and Painting. The coverage of the local politics, which was a significant influence on the art of the time, was a little lacking. There was very little information on the Medici's or the invasions of Charles VIII, Francois I, or Charles V.

This book is a great introduction to the Renaissance. For readers who would like more in-depth coverage, I would recommend "History of Italian Renaissance" by Frederick Hartt. For more information on the artist's themselves, contemporary Giorgio Vasari's classic "Lives of the Artists" is the ultimate resource. Two highly readable and wonderful books on specific events of the period are Ross King's "Brunelleschi's Dome" and "Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling".

There is real value in this little book. And while I wouldn't call it "exciting", if you like a splash of opinion in your reading then this rises above the average academic text.

This well-organized "Short History" does a fine job of outlining the major times, people, and places where the great wheel of the Renaissance turned. I like the attempt to divide the arts into writing, sculpture, architecture, and painting. I found that by not mixing artistic genres in discussion, it was easier to absorb who influenced whom, and when.

So why do I only give three stars? Two reasons. First, the opnions mixed in with facts bother me. What the author knows about an artist should be kept clearly separate from what the author thinks of an artist. For example, Masaccio gets a pass on being "sloppy", preoccupied, or difficult mostly because he died at age 27 and is poorly documented. Michalangelo and Leonardo are both singled out for opinionated criticism based on their personages, not their art.

The second reason this book loses a star might have more to do with the publisher than the author. Pictures. I fail to see why pictures of the wonderful artwork and buildings being described could not be inserted freely into the book. If Palladio never built two structures the same, then why not show side by side pictures of two of his surviving structures in Venice to show his flair for originality?

So, as a summary of the Renaissance this isn't bad. But it isn't great either. Soak in the history, ignore the opinions.

I am quite surprised at how many great reviews this book has received. My only explanation for this is that the this author must attract readers who already have considerable historical background. As one who really wanted an introduction to this time period, I feel the book sped way too quickly through its specialized topics, while omitting important areas. (If you are going to make the book all about the artistic achievements of the Renaissance, why not at least mention the musical accomplishments of composers such as Josquin and Palestrina?)

I completely agree with the reviewer who felt that this was full of name-dropping without much depth. I felt that the book focused too much on artistic individuals without developing a sense of what Renaissance life was like for the everyday person.

Most importantly, it was very hard to appreciate all the works of the artists mentioned without any pictures. It was like reading a pamplet about all the works in a museum, without ever going into the musuem.

I am a layman with regard to the arts, but has a keen interest in it, and I thoroughly enjoyed this little work by Paul Johnson. As always he is opinionated, sometimes infuriatingly so (I notice from the formal reviews that this does not endear him to academic historians), but that prevents his writing from being dull and academic. So what if he thinks that England had produced only four authors possessing of true genius- it's his opinion and he is entitled to state it. In this book Johnson gives a concise overview of the Renaissance: why it happened, and the major figures who contributed to this re-birth of painting, sculpture, etc. And he keeps it short, mercifully- it was nice to be able to finish a Johnson in a few days instead of a few months.

Above all, after reading this I want to re-visit Florence, the centre of the Renaissance, with this book in hand, looking for the wonderful art works produced by the masters. And I am sure that is what Johnson hoped for when writing this book, that it would make readers excited about the art of the Renaissance.

This is the first book I read of Paul Johnson's that is not a kilopage tome. In less than 200 pages, Johnson gave the Renaissance a most delightful treatment.

This book will disappoint those who try to look for exhaustive treatment of any area of literature and art of that fabulous era, or of any of the fabled masters. But it delights the reader with a short tour of the Renaissance Italy (and to a lesser degree, Europe) by vivid illustrations of some of the most outstanding literary, architecture and artistic accomplishments and the personalities behind them.

A most valuable part of this small volume is its casting of the Renaissance in a historical and geographical context. What brought about this marvelous revival of high arts? How was it related to the Gothic tradition? How some "imported" technologies, such as the movable type printing press from Germany and the oil paint from the Low Countries, were enthusiastically adopted by the Italians in propagating ideas and revolutionizing art forms. How the guild system produced successive generations of artists and also contemporaneous competition. Roles played by local politics and art patrons, and, of course, the church. And how eventually the French and German invasions from the north undermined the power foundation of this spectacular flowering of the arts, while ushering in the era of Reformation and the Baroque.

As a short history book - rather than a subject matter book - I find it informative, illuminating and well worth a couple of evening's reading time.

Turnbulls book offers a decent introduction to the Imjin war, however, their are some big flaws. Turnbull seemingly ignores Chinese sources, instead relying almost entirely on Japanese accounts of the Imjin war. In addition to this, his insistance that Chinese armies only used "human wave attacks", is entirely incorrect. as is his statement that Japanese weapons were completely superior. While the Ming army had been in slow decline, they were still a formidable fighting force(and certainly in better shape than the Korean army). Often employing hundreds of artillery pieces on the battlefield, and relying on complex tactics involving flanking, suprise attacks and backing the enemy armies up against obstacles. A far cry from Turbulls description of Chinese armies.

All in all, a good read. But the author obviously favours the Samurai. What more can you expect after reading the title? it is, afterall, a book about the samurai.

A study of the Imjin War, Shogun Toyotomi Hideyoshi's grand 16th. century attempt to conquer Korea ...and eventually invade China.
From Stephen Turnbull, who is by far the most prolific Western expert on Japanese warfare, we have a narration of the epic struggle between two rival nations, a war of Yin versus Yang contrasts:
-Japan possessed superbly professional armies of highly trained warriors. They fielded weapons and equipment far superior to the defending Koreans. The Japanese soldier was generally a thoroughly trained mercenary and veteran, whatever his rank or status. He came from a society divided into clearly defined social strata...but a society where it was still possible to attain upward mobility, advanced education and skills.
-The Korean armies were composed largely of untrained peasant conscripts, poorly armed and poorly led by a minority of effete and oppressive aristocracy. The Koreans had only two classes: the illiterate and impoverished peasant, and the wealthy aristocrat.
-The Japanese excelled in battle on land, but their naval forces were sadly Medieval.
-At sea, the Koreans ruled! Although their lackluster armies toiled in vain on land, the Korean admirals deployed armored ships of ingenious design. The skillful Korean sailors under the genius leadership of Admiral Yi Sun Sin routinely devasted Japanese fleets on the seas, in retaliation for the grievous damage the Japanese inflicted on Korean land forces.
Another fascinating study of Eastern military-history from Mr. Tunbull!

Stephen Turnbull is an expert in Samurai warfare and this is one of his best work to date. His coverage of this important war is very action-oriented and the ample maps and illustrations that come with the book help to boost the book's readability. Given that there aren't that many books on this subject, I have decided to give it a 5 starts in spite of the minor flaws that I have found below:

I must say, however, Mr. Turnbull's writing is not as comprehensive as Samuel Hawley's Imjin War which not only has described the politics of the Chosun Korea and Ming China in detail (giving the reader a better idea on the reasoning behind the strategic decisions made by those parties) but also explained in a more comprehensive fashion the contribution of the Ming China's army.

Any one interested in the subject may also want to check out the Immortal Yi Soon-Shin DVD (starting episode 36) here at amazon.com (which has a pretty good special effect on the battles for a TV drama and a plot that is also very comprehensive on the tactical battle planning of the said admiral and the factional rivalries within the Chosun court which brought him down).

Lastly, anyone who is a fan of samurai warfare should not miss out on Shogun:Total War by Creative Assembly (now in Gold version).

This is the only book length treatment of this neglected war available in English, and it is a very good one, if a little skewed in favor of the Japanese. Turnbull gives a good political and diplomatic background and covers both land and naval warfare as well as can be expected. Having read little Eastern military history, it was interesting to read about the combined use of archers, musketeers, and artillery (including rockets) as well as the unique naval tactics and turtle ships. This view of a different style of warfare helps put western military history in perspective.

This is a book which is not only well written but also gives great insight into a little-known war which has unfortunately continued to bedevil Japan-Korea relations ever since. Naturally Admiral Yi is the Lord Nelson (or Admiral Togo?!) of Korea, and for those who have visited that country and been frustrated by the language barrier (as I have) this book is a perfect starting-point to understanding the historical background and conflicting cultures of the two countries.
Furthermore, the detailed maps created when the author drove round Korea in a hired car are a joy and extremely helpful. The clash was not only cultural but also technological, and it is fascinating to learn about the 'turtle ships', celebrated still today as the great secret weapon of the Korean navy. A real tour de force!

Ian Ruxton, editor of Sir Ernest Satow's Private Letters to W.G. Aston and F.V. Dickins: The Correspondence of a Pioneer Japanologist from 1870 to 1918 (Paperback), also available on amazon.

Paul D. Cohn has written a fine novel that details a unique period of history. "Sao Tome's" complex and intriguing characters seem to walk off the pages, into your heart, and take you on a compelling journey of sacrifice and bravery. This thoroughly researched novel provides praiseworthy insight into the Medieval cultures, politics, and people of Europe and Africa in the late 1400s.

"Sao Tome" begins with the kidnapping of Jewish children from their Lisbon synagogue by the Portuguese Crown and Catholic Church and their shipment to Sao Tome Island off the West-African Equator. There the children are expected to convert to the Catholic faith, work as virtual slaves on the Crown sugar plantations, and participate in the growing African slave trade. The main character, a young teenager named Marcel Saulo, rebels against the slave trade and defies the island's church and governance. Through many trials, he becomes a successful farmer and mason, yet always struggles to hold on to his Jewish traditions and mitigate the horrors of slavery. His family grows and prospers despite many tragedies.

As the reader nears the end of his journey to Sao Tome, Saulo pays a terrible price for his opposition to slavery. Even so, "Sao Tome" culminates with a hopeful and remarkable conclusion, healing important bonds that were shattered years before when he was kidnapped in Lisbon.

"Sao Tome" by Paul D. Cohn is a page-turner with compelling characters and a great story line. The setting, people, and events in 15th century Portugal and Africa came to life from the moment I opened the book and found myself caught in the story. Then, I couldn't put the book down, and read late into the evening. Next, trying to sleep, I could not get the characters out of my mind and kept wondering what would happen next.

The main character, a Jewish kid of fifteen or so, Marcel Saulo, gets kidnapped along with his friends and sent to work on the Crown sugar plantations on the island of Sao Tome. After many terrifying and potentially deadly experiences he becomes a successful sugar farmer. Then he opposes the growing slavery activity on the island and becomes embroiled in the regional politics. I like the way the author keeps the reader in touch with events in Europe (which eventually affect Tome) through letters with his family.

The book's ending is a genuine surprise, although it remarkably fits in with the story.

"Sao Tome" is a thoroughly enjoyable novel, and in addition is full of informative history. I definitely recommend it.

This work of historical fiction, which is based upon actual events, was an eye-opener for me, as I was unaware that in the late fifteenth century, while Spain was at the height of its Inquisition, Portugal was also targeting its Jewish population. Its methods were insidious, as Jewish children were forcibly removed from their families, forced to convert to Catholicism, and then shipped to Sao Tome, an island off the African equator. There, those that survived the perilous journey were forced to work in the Portuguese government sponsored sugar plantations under abominable conditions.

The author based his book upon the Saulo Chronicle, written by a Marcel Saulo in 1491. The chronicle covers a period of five years, and it is this document that forms the basis for the events in this book, which begins with the sundering of Marcel Saulo and his sister, Leah, from their family. The story describes the heartbreak of man's inhumanity to man. Set against a backdrop of religious fanaticism and slavery, it is a story that, while well-researched, is hampered by one dimensional characters and dialogue that leaves something to be desired in terms of skillful writing. Still, for those who are interested in reading about the Diaspora, this book provides an introduction into a little known chapter of history.

"Sao Tome" was on our alternate list for our Sr. Lit. class, and at first a few people read it. After word got around, pretty soon almost everyone was reading it, and it was immensely popular. It's about this teen-age Portuguese kid who gets kidnapped and sent to this African island to slave away on the sugar plantations. It moves really fast, the writing is excellent, and you can't get the characters out of your mind. By that I mean, you can't wait to see what happens next. Talk about hair-raising! And there is a lot of interesting history here. I mean, things were so bad back then (1491) that you wonder how we ever got civilized. Or did we? Just take Bagdad, set if back 500 years, and substitute sugar for oil, and BLANGG! you got "Sao Tome." They've really got to make a movie out of this one.

A Compelling Historical Journey

Several reviewers have preceded me in extolling the merits of "Sao Tome's" fast-moving story, the lyrical quality of the writing, and its compelling characters and narrative. While I endorse and second these accolades, including the reviewers' excellent recanting of "Sao Tome's" storyline, I want to focus on the important history presented in the novel, history that tangibly takes the reader into the world of Medieval Africa, the slave and sugar trades, and the politics of the time. The wholesale African slave trade begins in the late 15th century on this small, West-African island and spreads throughout Europe and America, and all is driven by the commerce of sugar and the greed and connivance of the Portuguese, Spanish, and the Catholic hierarchy of the time. Author Paul D. Cohn masterfully weaves this complex history into an exciting tale.

At the time, Portugal was master of the European side of the North and South Atlantic, but with Spain hot on her heels, and sugar--grown marginally in Italy, North Africa, and Madera--was a rich-man's commodity. When sugar culture on Sao Tome (and later in Brazil) produced "sugar for the masses," the demand went sky-high, including the addition of sugar as an ingredient for grain beer, transforming the beer of the time from a casual, low-alcohol (less than 1%) beverage, to a drink with a significant kick. Also during this time, refugee Jews from Spain, trying to escape the growing inquisitions there, were streaming into Portugal. The Catholic Portuguese felt these refugees--particularly the children--were ripe pickings for conversion and shipment to Sao Tome. Seems there was a little problem on the island: malaria was killing one-third of the Europeans within the first year of their arrival, and the Portuguese had discovered that the African slaves were somewhat more immune to malaria. Sugar agriculture required massive manpower, and the slave coast of Africa had plenty of people to supply. Meanwhile, the Jews if Iberia had become the pawns of Crown and Church politics, and the kidnapped Jews of Sao Tome became both willing and unwilling participants in slavery and sugar farming.

Enter Spain's alliance with Portugal and churchly politics: With discovery of coastal Brazil and its immense capacity for growing sugar, the wholesale slave trade was born. Slaves and sugar became the "petroleum industry" of the time--slaves shipped west, sugar shipped east. And the Portuguese controlled the slave trade by using Sao Tome Island as the off-shipment point for Africans destined for both The Americas and Europe. The Church created the "Diocese of Sao Tome," thus corrupting the African mainland into participating in slave commerce.

And there you have it, a compelling, must-read historical novel of slavery, greed, commerce, and bravery, "Sao Tome, Journey to the Abyss-- Portugal's Stolen Children."

This is an excellent essay, even for those who did not know they cared about the Renaissance.

My primary motive for purchasing this book was the fact that it had influenced Nietzsche; however, this book has much independent merit, whether you love hate or don't care about Nietzsche, there will be something here for you.

Burckhardt does a great job of capturing the amoral ethos of the time on its own terms; not judging it from the position of some imagined superiority. He is obviously well-versed in the relevant literature, and the translation does not seem to obscure him.

This particular edition does have numerous typographical errors, which can be somewhat distracting as one reads.

This review is of the edition of The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy published by BiblioBazaar. This edition should be recalled by the publisher: there are typo's on every page, making it nearly unreadable. I attempted to continue reading the book (which is of course a classic) but was too annoyed with trying to figure out what certain jumbled characters meant.

I think BiblioBazaar must has scanned the text of an old edition of the book whose copyright had expired, but then never bothered to proofread the finished product. Very bad business. Save your money and get an edition by a reputable publisher.

The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy (Modern Library Classics)The Civilization offers a handy checklist for anyone wishing to delve deeper into the Medieval and Renaissance studies. The somewhat tortuous introduction which outlines the political turmoil in 15th century Italy adds weight to the two conclusions which Burckhardt makes towards the end: the Reformation had galvanized the Vatican into action and helped, inadvertently, the Catholic church to regain ground, and, secondly, a combination of a fragmented national identity, secularization and reliance on cunning and talent prompted the rise of the individual.

Burckhardt then proceeds to chart out the different trends, fashions, and cultural shifts which made the Renaissance: revival of the interest in antiquity, search for classical manuscripts, studies in classical Latin, rediscovery of ancient literary forms, creation of libraries, patronage of the arts, exaltation of man in painting, dress and literature, interest in the human body, the opening up to the world - in short humanism.

In his account of life in the Renaissance Burckhardt notes how laughter insinuated itself into artistic expression as a form of protest against dogma and despotism. Where its impact was felt most was in the celebration of religious festivals. Ridicule and paganism were never deep under the surface in miracle plays and pageants.

After examining the Italian Renaissance man's values and finding that honour had supplanted guilt, Burckhardt takes a closer look at religion. Inevitably there is reference to the medieval worship of relics, simony, sale of indulgences, moral corruption in the Church from top to bottom, but also an equally bitter treatment of the things which replaced, or rather reinforced, them: preachers of repentance, adoration of the Madonna, persecution of heretics and in particular the Epicureans. Added to the mix was superstition, which does not strike a student of the Renaissance as particularly modern but with which the ancients would certainly have been at home.

This paradigm shift which touched the lives of many men in the 14th and 15th century left many men adrift, spiritually and intellectually. Along with the unquestionable achievements in all areas of life which were ushered in by the Renaissance, Burckhardt observes, the age was marked by a steady slide towards fatalism and skepticism. Welcome to modern times!

This is a reference book for those that need a concise edition on Renaissance. However for the reader less learned, this issue is lacking an editor's information, for example, a brief comment on the author; wich language his work was first published; others english translations after 1878 Middlemore, and so on.

Burckhardt's brilliance is undeniable. His erudition is obvious and his synthesis of numerous themes and what would now be deemed separate academic disciplines is magnificent. The edition, however, was awful. Individual pages had literally dozens of typos and an entire half a chapter was printed twice. While I would gladly recommend the work, I strongly suggest finding another edition.

Amazon seems to be including all the reviews of different editions and translations of Chaucer's "Troilus and Criseyde" on the same page. If you read the reviews here you will be very confused. Some refer to an original language edition (either the one made by R. A. Shoaf or Stephen Barney's Norton Critical edition), and some refer to a translation, at least one to the translation done by Nevill Coghill. The reader needs to pay careful attention to what edition is actually on the screen when making a selection.

If you want to read the original text, I would recommend Stephen Barney's edition. Barney is the editor who made the critical edition for the Riverside Chaucer, and his Norton Critical edition includes ten excellent critical essays in addition to Chaucer's poem, Giovanni Boccaccio's "Il Filostrato" (Chaucer's source), and Robert Henryson's "Testament of Crisseid." Shoaf's edition is also good, but twice as expensive, and it does not have as much contextual material. Coghill is a fine translator of Chaucer, and for the reader who does not want to tackle the Middle English he will provide an adequate experience. But beware: His smooth couplets sound more like Alexander Pope than the vigorous medieval writer he is translating.

Geoffrey Chaucer's fresh, but, sometimes very sentimental text tells the story of the brave knight, Troilus, a `slave of love', Criseyde, a realistic widow, and their go-between, the intriguer and opportunist, Pandarus.

For the idealist, Troilus: 'Next to the foulest nettle, tick and rough, / Rises the rose in sweetness, smooth and soft.'

For the realist, Criseyde: 'Am I to love and put myself in danger? / Am I to lose my darling liberty? / She who loves none has little cause for tears. / Husbands are always full of jealousy' / And men are too untrue /Or masterful, or hunting novelty.'

The sly intriguer Pandarus brings them together: 'Just as with dice chance governs every throw / So too with love, its pleasures come and go.'

However, the love between Troilus and Criseyde cannot blossom for political reasons. The realist betrays the idealist.

For Troilus (Chaucer), the fundamental question is: 'Since all that comes, comes by necessity / Thus to be lost is but my destiny.'
Was his fate ruled by predestination or was there only foreknowledge by God? 'To prone predestination, yet again others affirm we have free choice. To question which is cause of which, / and see Whether the fact of God's foreknowledge is / the certain cause of the necessity.'
Chaucer's answer is `determinism': 'And this is quite sufficient anyway To prove free choice in us a mere pretence.'

However, the priests are not his favorites: 'The temple priests incline to tell you this / That dreams are sent as Heaven's revelations; / They also tell you, and with emphasis / They're diabolic hallucinations.'

For Chaucer, 'Think this world is but a fair / passing as soon as flower-scent in air.'

This poem is not as strong as the Canterbury Tales, but it is a must read for all lovers of world literature.

This is a great edition for the masochist literature lover who wants to attempt middle english text. The footnotes are well researched and the supplementary papers are great additions.

As to the actual story, it is a wonderful, if not a little too realistic, love story taking place during the Trojan war. It mixes Greek customs and period with Chaucer's life in the middle ages. The story confuses itself with middle age customs with ancient greek traditions, with some parts completely unable to be understood (as the footnotes can atest with the same difficulties).

A good edition for English majors, bad for the faint of heart.

Please be careful! Everything on this page gives you the impression that this is a hardcover version of Shoaf's edition of Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde. IT IS NOT - IT DOES NOT EVEN CONTAIN THE POEM. This is a collection of essays about the poem that is really only suited to Chaucer scholars. Don't make the same mistake I made. It should be subtitled - ESSAYS - or have some other clear description of the nature of the book. I can not evaluate the essays, because I haven't yet read the poem because of this mis-identification of these Essays with the Superior Shoaf edition of Troilus and Criseyde by Chaucer.

Your web-page is misleading. It quotes, and the image displays, the Middle English original of the poem. The inside pages shown are from the Middle English edition. However, (and the modernized title should be a giveaway, but it wasn't) the edition on this page is in modern English -- a translation, not Chaucer's poem. You need to clean up this page, take away the Middle English quotations, state that it's a modern translation, and refer the prospective buyer to the actual, modernized edition -- which the buyer may or may not want (in my case I did not), with assistance in finding the actual Middle English masterpiece.

I havent read this book as of yet, but I am replying to a reader who was wonering how the pronounce the title. Taken from www.ruleoffour.com: "Since its publication in 1499, the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili (pronounced Hip-ner-AH-toe-mak-ee-a Poh-LI-fi-ly) has baffled scholars who have tried to unveil its many mysteries."

An earlier reviewer remarked "Fortunately Joscelyn Godwin didn't try to reproduce Francesco Colonna's difficult and idiosyncratic Italian in English, otherwise the book would have been as difficult to read as 'Ulysses' and needed another volume just for footnotes." The correct word is unfortunately. The present translation is a lifeless, dumbed down document. I wasted my money.

The great success of The Rule of Four (Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason) made Francesco Colonna's book known to large numbers of readers who would not have heard of it otherwise; however famous the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili might have been to historians of renaissance literature it was hardly an everyday name to everyone else. It was inevitable, therefore, that any publisher with an English translation in its lists was going to bring out a popular edition for the potential new market.

And so it has proved. Thames & Hudson had produced a high-quality English edition as recently as 1999, and now offer a paperback edition at a much lower price, retaining the same high quality of paper and printing, but with a different page size. The book is set in Monotype Poliphilus, in principle the same typeface that was used by Aldus Manutius five centuries earlier for the original book. In principle only, however, as comparison with the facsimile from the original that is reproduced near the end of the book will show that the modern typeface is much less black in appearance - cleaner and lighter if you like the modern tendency, or paler and weaker if you don't. All of the original illustrations are included (including one that was accidentally omitted from the 1999 edition).

Joscelyn Godwin, the translator, decided to aim for clarity rather than a close representation of Colonna's style in English. For some readers this will be a disappointment, resulting in a pale shadow of the original, but if they want to understand what the book is about then it was probably inevitable. In the Introduction, Godwin gives a sample of what his translation might have looked like if he had tried to reproduce Colonna's style: "In this horrid and cuspidinous littoral and most miserable site of the algent and fetorific lake stood saevious Tisiphone, efferal and cruel with her viperine capillament, her meschine and miserable soul, implacably furibund". If that is the kind of thing you like to read you will certainly regard Godwin's version as a travesty, but if you want to get through the book you will probably prefer the text that he actually provides: "On this horrid and sharp-stoned shore, in this miserable region of the icy and foetid lake, stood fell Tisiphone, wild and cruel with her vipered locks and implacably angry..."

Imagine the most boring person in the world telling you about this "erotic" dream he had. As soon as he starts, you realize that to this guy "erotic" means "sensual" and he has a Medeival dread of his own sexuality. He spends hours meticulously describing every pebble, every stone, every crack in the architecture, every flower in the gardens, every thread of the costumes worn by the armies of lovely (but "virginal") nymphs he encounters along the way.
Out of the 466 pages of the hardcover 2nd edition, there is action on approximately 75 of them. The rest is lengthy and uninteresting description of the marvels Poliphilo sees in his dream. Everything is described in superlative terms, and the figure is repeated so often you can almost sing along with Poliphilo: "X such that was never seen/made/matched by Y." Where X is the thing described and Y is an obscure allusion to classical mythology or European lore of a person or place famous for its association with X or items like it. The classical allusions are so frequent and so obscure, the reader will need a guidebook probably twice as thick as the Hypnerotomachia itself in order to understand them all.
People prate of the beauty of this book, but ... I won't deny that the book itself, as a physical object, is quite beautiful, and the illustrations are interesting (however the women who are described in the text as "beautiful" are drawn sort of doughy with double chins and chubby baby-fat limbs.) But the average modern reader will not be able to slog through what must have been considered in the Renaissance to be an enchanting pageant of loveliness. The ceaseless barrage of adjectives and the narrator's simpering reluctance to ever take any sort of action will frustrate most members of a 21st-century audience.
This book is not without its merits, which are the reason I awarded it two stars. The first 150 pages are quite delightful, because things are actually happening in the story, the experience is still new, and the interminable tedium of the next 300 pages has not yet beaten the reader's brain into a catatonic state. The sumptuous banquet at the court of Queen Eleuterylida is a memorable highlight. There's an interesting scene right in the middle of the book, in which Poliphilo explores a ruined cemetery and reads epitaphs of unfortunate wights who died of love. Numerous descriptions of pagan rituals are interesting, if not accurate. The book is completely saturated with Greco-Roman paganism, which was a fad at the time it was written.
The act of reading the Hypnerotomachia can be rewarding in spite of, or perhaps because of its tedium. I forged onward with the grim determination that I would finish this book, no matter what ... my eyes rolled in my head as I fought off sleep, hypnotic streams of uninteresting adjectives reducing my awareness to a dreamlike state. I would read pages and afterwards have no memory whatsoever of what they had contained. Strange ideas and mental pictures emerged which seemed to come, not from the book, but from somewhere behind it. I found myself titllated by vivid erotic fantasies which seemed totally unrelated to what I was reading. Was this some sort of magic, intentionally worked by the author of the Hypnerotomachia, or was it my subconscious mind desperately trying to entertain itself in the face of such monumental dullness?
I recommend this book for anyone interested in a non-chemical psychedelic experience. But try to find it at the library, don't spend your hard-earned money.

Francesco Colonna's legendary "Hypnerotomachia Poliphili" is a book that captures the spirit of its time and place in a way few others do. Here, in the magical dream of the hero Poliphilus, we see classical antiquity through the eyes of the Italian renaissance, and it is not the view most students of the classics get today through Aristotle or Cicero - think instead of the Corpus Hermeticum, Neoplatonists like Plotinus, or of later Latin writers like Apuleius. It is not only in its text but in its format, its typesetting, and its illustrations, that the original edition of 1499 exemplified its age. That edition is esteemed by bibliophiles and students of typography as one of history's great landmarks in the art of book making.

The publishers of this edition have tried to reproduce, as much as is possible, the feeling of the original, while at the same time producing it on a commercially feasible scale. This leads, inevitably, to some compromises. The typesetting is very well done by modern digital techniques, the presswork is standard offset lithography and the paper a stiff dead white wove offset grade. Consequently the tactile character of the book is quite unlike original fifteenth- and sixteenth-century books. A private-press printer like Mardersteig's Officina Bodoni, or even a high-grade commercial book printer like the Stinehour Press, could have done a handsomer and more authentic job, but the book's price, already high, would then have been stratospheric. This said, the size and appearance of the pages are about as close in their resemblance to the original as is feasible using the techniques employed. A cream laid paper, more closely resembling the original, could just as easily and as economically have been used, and it is a pity that it was not.

The translation by Prof. Joscelyn Godwin is careful, and is preceded by an informative translator's preface. While the translator disavows trying to imitate the style of the original too faithfully, his work has a distinct "flavor" which struck me as familiar. It was only after some time that I realized where I had encountered it before - in some of the writings of Frederick Rolfe (Baron Corvo), for example, "Don Tarquinio." This may be a clever and deliberate device, like William Ernest Henley's translation of François Villon's "Tout aux tavernes & aux filles" into the slang of a cockney jailbird of the 1890s. On the other hand, it may well be that both Godwin's and the Corvine mannerisms go back to the common source, and attempt to reflect in English the peculiar voice of this Italian renaissance author, whose work was published in the time and place for which the eccentric æsthete Corvo felt such nostalgia and admiration.

This very short book (<81 pages including editor's intro) is a set of 3 lectures published posthumously. They were edited by and published with an introduction by the author's student, Samuel Cohn. Herlihy was a distinguished historian of Medieval and Renaissance Europe and these lectures are an attempt to outline the significance of the Black Death in European history. The first chapter is a short overview of demographic impact of the Black Death and a discussion of the agent. Herlihy suggests that the Black Death was not bubonic plague. This is an interesting point but probably not something that can ever be settled and the specific etiology of the Black Death is not strictly relevant to understanding the impact of the Black Death. Chapters 2 & 3 are the real meat of the book. In Chapter 2, Herlihy suggests that the Black Death constituted a decisive break in European history. Prior to the Black Death, Europe was locked in a Malthusian stalemate which could have continued indefinitely. Herlihy suggests the enormous mortality of the Black Death precipitated a series of economic and demographic changes with considerable long run benefits. The scarcity of labor provided an impetus for labor saving technology and Herlihy argues that the Black Death resulted in a demographic pattern shift with more emphasis on control of fertility. In Chapter 3, Herlihy points to other changes with important long term consequences. He suggests that the Black Death degraded the universal Latin based intellectual culture of Catholic Europe with greater emphasis on the use of vernacular languages and the establishment of local universities. These phenomena, in turn, contribute to nascent national feelings. Herlihy makes the very interesting suggestion that the Black Death may have been seen as a vindication of the Nominalist critique of Thomistic theology, further eroding the Catholic intellectual consensus. He concludes by suggesting that the Black Death was responsible for the spread of popular Christian piety.
In the introduction, Cohn provides a good critical discussion of some of Herlihy's ideas and indicates areas where Herlihy may be wrong. Most of these criticisms seem appropriate but one may be off target. Cohn suggests that Herlihy was wrong in suggesting that the labor shortages following the Black Death were responsible for introduction and use of labor saving technology. He points to the example of printing, which appeared over a century after the initial catastrophe of the Black Death. I think Herlihy is correct. We know that the Black Death was a catastrophe across Eurasia and resulted in the disruption of both local economies and the large pan-Eurasian trading networks. Given the magnitude of the disaster, it would have taken generations to recover. Technological innovations become particularly important during periods of economic boom with some relative labor shortage. The time lag between the initial Black Death and the development and dissemination of printing pointed to by Cohn is exactly what Herlihy's model predicts.

Before his untimely death in 1991 David Herlihy presented three lectures examining the Black Death and in doing so redefined the entire historical outlook on the great plague. These speeches may have been lost, if it were not for Samuel K. Cohn, Jr., who collected Herlihy's lectures and notes and presented them in a concise tome. According to Herlihy although the Black Death had a devastating affected on everything in European society, it kept European culture from getting stale. While historians originally viewed the "great plague" as a disaster that hit Europe and set European society back 100s of years, Herlihy sees the "death" as a liberating force, pushing European society forward, destroying it, but at the same time transforming it, spurring new growth and possibilities. There is a reason according to Herlihy, "that the...characteristics of the population collapse of the late Middle Ages [were] Europe's deepest and also its last."

Herlihy's thesis is a simple, yet revolutionary one: that the Black Death created the demand for labor saving devices as the population dwindled, and this in turn pushed European society forward. While most historians approached the subject from a political and military aspect, Herlihy looks at the social effects of the plague on women, art, and society in general, and comes to the conclusion that the plague was, in the long run, a good thing for Europe.

The book itself is divided into three major parts reflecting the lectures that Herlihy had delivered at the University of Maine in 1985. Cohn adds an introduction and an extensive section of End Notes, but overly keeps Herlihy's text intact. The first chapter explores the idea that the plague itself may not have been bubonic plague, which is the standard historical theory to this day. "Medical writers of late antiquity and the early Middle Ages," writes Herlihy, "recognized only one type of epidemic disease marked by only one kind of symptom, inflammations, boils, or buboes in the area of the groin, [which] the authority of the ancients may have blinded later witnesses to other symptoms, indicating the presence of other types of epidemic disease." To back up his argument Herlihy knocks down the age-old notion that the plague was spread by infected rats, moving throughout Europe. If, according to Herlihy, the "death" was bubonic, then there should be evidence of an epizootic within the rat population. "To my knowledge," Herlihy states, "not a single Western chronicler notes the occurrence of [such] an epizootic, the massive mortalities of rats, which ought to have preceded and accompanied the human plague." For Herlihy, the disease that ravaged Europe was most likely anthrax. "Anthrax can produce the characteristic swellings which might be mistaken for buboes."

The second and third chapters of the book delve into the economic impact of the plague on European society, and how that society rebounded from it. For years historians have look at the reasons behind the cause for the plague as a "Malthusian crisis." That the population had just grown too big for the land to sustain it. Herlihy disagrees with this thesis, and sees European society before the plague in more of a social deadlock, which societal numbers maintaining themselves. "The medieval experience shows us not a Malthusian crisis but a stalemate, in a sense that the community was maintaining at stable levels very large numbers over a lengthy period." To back up these arguments Herlihy relies on several medieval sources, including documents from the city of Tuscany. "In spite of frequent famine and widespread hunger, the community in ca. 1300 was successfully holding its numbers." It is necessary to point out however, that Herlihy's argument that the Black Death was in reality anthrax relies too heavily on sources from Italy, and one can find just as persuasive arguments to support the standard notion of bubonic plague. In fact Cohn shines skepticism on this theory himself in his introduction. Yet despite this slight flaw within the first section of the book, Herlihy's argument as presented in the second and third chapters, that the plague was a catalyst and driving force for change within Europe, is well supported.

The Black Death "gave to Europeans the chance to rebuild their society along much different lines," the author writes. The unprecedented drain on the labor force, especially devastating because of the feudal society, drove the need to produce labor saving devices, and thus broke the "stalemate" of that feudal society. "Europe at the time of the plague...was a society reeling under repeated, powerful shocks; burdened with huge numbers of dependents; struggling with difficulty to maintain its occupational cadres; struggling also to uphold the quality of its skilled traditions." Herlihy clearly put into perspective the situation that existed during feudal times, explaining how land use and societal class differences stagnated European culture. The plague, killing off large numbers of the labor force, created a situation in which the surviving Europeans, both Nobel and peasant classes, had to adapt in order to survive. "Above all [the plague] freed resources...mills and mill sites...[that] could now be enlisted for other uses; the fulling of cloth, the operation of bellows, the sawing of wood." While the horror of the disease took a great toll on the families who lived through it, in the long run "the late Middle Ages were a period of impressive technological achievement."

To arrive at his thesis Herlihy uses an interdisciplinary approach to the Black Death, using comparative narative, as well as a social and medical historic approach, to try and develop a model of how the disease progressed and how populations reacted. To expound on the latter, the author uses modern approaches as one way of trying to allow the reader to relate to the overwhelming effects the disease had on Europe. To do so Herlihy creates a comparative analysis with the AIDS virus, and how people reached at first to both AIDS today (homophobic feelings) and the Black Death (anti-Semitism).

To support his arguments Herlihy relies on Church sources from the 1300s, focusing on marriage and death records, drawing most of his data from Italy. This is one flaw of his work, but should be of no surprise to readers' familiar to the author's other works, as Herlihy is a Medieval Italian historian. Therefore most of his research focuses on the effect of the Black Death in Italy, and uses literature of the times (poetry and songs), to try and paint an entire picture of medieval life at the time. To even further understand the social impact of the plague on 1300 society, Herlihy uses as secondary sources monographs, and newspaper articles for comparison with modern plagues. The concentration on Italian sources however, is a weakness in his thesis, as it does not take into effect the Black Death in England, France, and several other European nations.

The book ends with an extensive section of End Notes, taken from Herlihy's "incomplete" notes, and expanded upon by Cohn. This section also serves as a Bibliography, and points the reader to other sources of information. In addition Cohn uses the notes to expand on Herlihy's lectures, providing new and updated information, and sometimes contradicting the author himself.

Unfortunately the book falls short in several places, especially in light of examining other societies that fell victim to the plague. Herlihy seems to gloss over the fact that the Black Death was a pandemic that effected more than just the people of Europe, and nether Herlihy (or Cohn for that matter), addresses the questions as to why the Middle East, also effected by the plague, did not experience the same cultural resurgence Europe did after the epidemic. Nor are the effects of plague on China mentioned. China in the 14th century was also hit hard by epidemics almost identical as that as the Black Death, yet China started falling behind Europe soon afterwards. Surely if the devastation of its society was the catalyst which prompted innovation in Europe, would it not have had the same effects in China and the Middle East? It is possible that the European transformation can just as easily be explained by a different theory: the influences of the Mongol Empire. The Mongol Empire, which crumbled around the same time as the Black Death was ravaging Europe, had transmitted much of China's technology (gunpowder, paper) to Europe. Over time, as these innovations slowly caught on within European society, these technological changes would have taken place regardless of the death of so much of its population. It may be that it is more to the Mongols than the plague that Europe is what it is today.

Overall what Herlihy and Cohn have achieved here is to present a theory that asked the question, was the Black Death a bad event, or good event for European society? In and of itself it poses a grand question, and allows the reader to rethink previous views regarding Europe during the 1300s. While readers interested in a more traditional "history" of the great plague will be disappointed, serious scholars will find Herlihy's arguments provocative, and thought provoking. Despite its few flaws, Herlihy's "The Black Death and the Transformation of the West" is an excellent collection which challenges the views of mainstream history, and that is always a good thing.

John Rocco Roberto
History Department, The Nelson A. Rockefeller School

This is a rather slight work of only 116 pages including Professor Cohn's thoughtful comments. Thus, those wishing to read a sound introduction to this period of 1348-1350 a.d. need not feel daunted in seeking it out.

Most interesting is Professor Cohn's suggestion that the political impact of the plague in the Mediterranean was not at all like that "in the West." He notes "...Mamluk (slaves who rose to power in Egypt) political control was unshaken by the plague experience." This surprises and informs. Thus the Introduction is a very good reason for having this book.

Cohn also credits Herlihy with ingeniously adding to historians' discussions of epidemics by addressing the implications for creating saints by the church. Even more interesting is the "naming" discussion in the third of the three essays by Herlihy, "Modes of Thoughts and Feelings". It is in this section that he probes the choices of names for children relative to the horrific emotions stirred by the plague. In traditional study of religion, the analysis of "theophoric" elements in names is extremely useful as scholars of Near Eastern religions have often noted.

He notes as well that some very base passions were stirred to the extent that wild frolicking occurred even among the graves in cemeteries.

However, those escorting the many to their final resting places
did not often exercise their right to remove valuables from the pockets of the deceased. Understanding of the risks entailed must have become clear. Grave diggers traditionally had appropriated a few coins used for the deads' fare into the next world..."to pay the tillerman." This understanding may have developed slowly, but it did develop.

Herlihy restricted his analysis primarily to "demographic and economic" systems even though the reader will sense that much more could have been written as regards other religious influences and practices (burials just noted) specifically, the authority of the Catholic church. After all it was the wealthiest institution in the world. Some students, of this awesome series of events assert the "the Black Death" so changed religious perceptions as to lay some of the foundation for the Renaissance and the Enlightenment. This is really intriguing!

Just how could the plague have occasioned such long lasting effects. Surely something as significant as "...the Transformation of the West" would fully grapple with these dimensions. However, students of this matter will have to look elsewhere.The editors may have over reached in appending "Transformation of the West" to the title.

Alas Dr. Herlihy died in 1991... with all of us...amateurs and scholars alike...losing his further creative and brilliant insights into this great period in the history of human family. We do thank Dr. Cohn for his contribution and may Professor Herlihy rest in peace.

psb 2-22-20040

Herlihy makes the excellent point that the Black Death strengthened Europe in the long run (meaning over many centuries). For centuries, Europe had lagged behind China in technology and standard of living. By the 16th century, Europe was ahead, and has remained so ever since. What made the difference? Actually Phil Rushton had suggested something similar as the explanation, but Herlihy expanded on it in this book (though he probably never heard of Rushton).

The Black Death killed off something like half of Europe's population within a decade in the mid-14th century. The short-term destructive effect was incalculable. But Herlihy argues that those who were left unkilled were suddenly provided with huge resources, both natural and human, and much technical innovation became possible, which in turn launched Europe onto the road to the Industrial Revolution. As an example - the most dramatic one - he called the Gutenberg printing press a direct result of the Black Death. (p. 50) Not only was this a major technical innovation, the printing press had a greater influence than, say, a more efficient way to grow food: printing helped disseminate knowledge, even though, at first, most of this knowledge concerned religion and then only later science and technology.

Samuel Cohn used the Introduction to criticize Herlihy, which I think is not only odd but in poor taste, because Herlihy was already dead when Cohn wrote it. Cohn doubted the printing press (and by analogy, Herlihy's other examples) made much difference: far more book were printed many years after Gutenberg, he says, when population growth was surging again. I think Cohn misses the point: the INVENTION of the Gutenberg printing press was made possible by the Black Death, which made labor costs sky high by killing off many scribes. That many more books were printed with a fast-increasing population is not surprising: the demand for books increased with headcount. But Herlihy argues that without the Black Death, Gutenberg might not have had to invent his printing press. Herlihy's other examples include firearms.

Cohn points out that gunpowder and cannons were already known before Black Death. True enough. But he cannot convincingly prove that the Black Death didn't create a need for the widespread use of firearms in war. Cohn raises many other questions. A tough one is: why didn't the Middle East experience a cultural resurgence after the Black Death, which struck Europe just as hard? Herlihy has no answer to this. Cohn also fails the mention the puzzling case of China. The 14th century was hard on China also - many millions died from epidemics almost identical with the Black Death. But China started falling behind Europe soon afterwards. Why did Europe and not China benefit from the Black Death? (My guess is China suffered less human loss than Europe did, and as a result could not free up more resources to break what Herlihy calls the Malthusian deadlock - the constant growth in population which swallowed up all the benefits of innovation with no real improvement in standards of living and the possibility for revolutionary innovations.) Also, China had printing with movable type long before Europe did, and this didn't help China much later on.

I think there are many other issues and questions to consider how and why Europe advanced so much more quickly after the Black Death than before it. Surely the Mongol Empire which crumbled around the same time as the Black Death happened had by then transmitted much of China's technology (such as gunpowder and paper) to Europe, which needed time to digest and disseminate. So the possibility is real that it was the dreaded Mongols who made Europe what it is today, not only by making Chinese technology possible, but also by creating the conditions for the Black Death epidemic itself through its intercontinental trade routes. The Black Death may have started from central Asia in Turkestan - in today's southeastern part of Kazakstan, not far from the Chinese border. (p. 22-23) As Herlihy puts it, a certain Mongol khan used dead bodies with the plague to besiege a Black Sea town - one of the first effective uses of biological weapons. Thanks thus to the Mongols, Europe suffered the Black Death only to benefit from it enormously in the long run. I only wish this book were not so short, so that Herlihy could have been more specific as to why he thought so. Still this is the only effort I know of which makes this suggestion.

I had read late David Herlihy's book back in college and I just read it again. It is rather a very short book as it took me a little over an hour to read. It is a very readable, well written, and quite insightful. This book consisted of three parts: the question of the Black Death itself, the economic after-effects, and the impact of the plague on the social institutions/orders.

I found this book to be quite intriguing read, and holds a great benefit for those who are interested in studying the horrific events of the Black Death.

I don't have a lot of science background but I had to take an evolution class that required this book. I was excited to learn about the subject but this book is not written for beginners. It is written for people who already have a strong background in science. For me, the book went way too deep into the different aspects of evolution and was downright confusing most of the time.

I took an evolution class with Ridley's Evolution as the textbook. It was way too much and I found reading tedious. A few years later I came across this Evolution and I thought " I wish I had this book as an undergrad" Strickberger's Evolution is a much easier read. There are plenty of diagrams and figures and they are explained fairly well. This book almost reads like a general biology book, because it gives a nice review of general botany, zoology and genetics. Highly recommended to any professors that are looking for a good evolution text for their undergrad class.

Strickberger is famous in the genetical studies of Drosophila and his works primarily focus on phylogenetics and traditional genetic data interpretation.

In lieu of his speciality he has done a remarkable job composing this book as it makes a smooth, gradual transition from traditional evolutionary biology covering topics such as the endosymbiont theory, chemosynthetic origins of life, various theories of life and its formation to Linnean and Cladistic (anatomical and physiological classification) and finally into the real world with modern day molecular clock concepts and phylogenetic analysis.

Our focus in Biology 114 were all of these and the book was a fountain of knowledge in these regards. The field of study is generally boring, and I myself found this genre of biology to be more along the lines of some history class than a science subject.

On consideration of my negative bias of this whole topic, I still found this book to be remarkable. It had made a subject which I was not fond of (I didnt hate it but I didnt like it either) and made is refreshing. Strickberger's conversational style of writing and simplicity should by dually noted, the guy has a sense of humour what will make an individual crack up whilst reading his book. He is also highly informative and his explanations are not lost when reading as he joins ideas so coherently that it is hard to find gaps in the concepts he presents. This is by the way a book that ranges from explaining the history and philosophy of evolutionary biology, creationism vs evolution and how DNA fits in with respect to the three major biological domains.

The subject of Eukarya, Prokarya and Archia is discussed very well, a lot of focus is placed on the Eukaryotic paradigm of evolution since it is much more simpler to explain concepts with examples that an individual can associate with.

So unless you have a microbiology PhD or are microscopic yourself it is safe to say that Eukarya is most ideal :)

Strickberger has some philosophical differences to myself however I have learnt a significant amount from his text and found it useful in my further studies of Genetics at 200 (sophomore or second year) levels. How he explains electrophoresis is better than most analytical genetics textbooks, and this all packed in one cute package.

The bottom of the pages have this interesting lizard animation that when you flick the pages you see it move and eat a fly. I found that entertaining for the whole semester lol.

This is a superb textbook. Where it