Books by Robert Black

From a leading expert on the life and works of Niccolò Machiavelli, a superb overview of the pivotal Renaissance philosopher, writer, and historian. "Machiavellian" can signify duplicity and amorality in politics, but Machiavelli himself was far more complex than this cliché. A high-ranking Florentine government official and prolific writer of hugely influential political, military, and historical works, Machiavelli was also a vernacular poet, first-rank dramatist, and religious radical, rejecting not only the contemporary Catholic Church but Christianity itself. From champion of Florentine popular republicanism to political radical to conservative, Machiavelli explores the many facets of the man described as the father of modern political philosophy and political science.

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The Medici: Citizens and Masters offers a novel, comparative approach to examining Medici power and influence in Florence. Contributors from diverse perspectives set Medici rule against princely states such as Milan and Ferrara, and they ask how much the Medici changed Florence, contrasting their supremacy with earlier Florentine regimes.

Benedetto Accolti was one of the outstanding humanists of the fifteenth-century Renaissance. This biography explores the intellectual, political and economic milieu of his native city of Arezzo, the importance of his career as chancellor of Florence and his work as an administrative reformer.