In 1537 Francesco Guicciardini, adviser and confidant to three popes, governor of several central Italian states, ambassador, administrator, military captain--and persona non grata with the ruling Medici after the siege of Florence--retired to his villa to write a history of his times. His Storia d'Italia became the classic history of Italy--both a
Reviews
"Guicciardini's objectivity is awesome ... the combination of tumultuous events and the cold lunar language he uses to describe them gives his history its unique and incomparable cachet."--The New York Times
