- April Blood: Florence and the Plot Against the Medici - Lauro Martines
I finally got to finish this book! Apparently I was 150 pages away from finishing it when I droped it and not 50 pages. It took me a few days to get back into, but I did.
I really liked this book. Sometimes the organization of the chapters seemed a little awkward, but I understood why they were set up that way so I got over it. The information in the text more than maked up for that. This is probably the most thourough explaination of the Pazzi Conspiracy I've read to date. Martines goes into the political background that led to the events, the different stages of the planning, the histories of the conspirators, their confessions, punishments, and of course a detailed explaination of how the assassination of Giuliano and the attempt on Lorenzo changed the course of Florentine history.
At the end, Martines tries to summorize the overall effects and the future of Florence. The information was helpful, but you could tell that the author was trying to conclude the book toward the end of chapter 13 and through all of chapter 14. I started thinking he was rushing to finally be done with the book, but again, the information more than made up for that. Also, the book does not idealize Lorenzo de' Medici, which is rare. Martines presents the positives and the negatives. It took some getting use to after The Agony and the Ecstasy depicts him as the type of father figure you'd love to have.
I really liked this book. Sometimes the organization of the chapters seemed a little awkward, but I understood why they were set up that way so I got over it. The information in the text more than maked up for that. This is probably the most thourough explaination of the Pazzi Conspiracy I've read to date. Martines goes into the political background that led to the events, the different stages of the planning, the histories of the conspirators, their confessions, punishments, and of course a detailed explaination of how the assassination of Giuliano and the attempt on Lorenzo changed the course of Florentine history.
At the end, Martines tries to summorize the overall effects and the future of Florence. The information was helpful, but you could tell that the author was trying to conclude the book toward the end of chapter 13 and through all of chapter 14. I started thinking he was rushing to finally be done with the book, but again, the information more than made up for that. Also, the book does not idealize Lorenzo de' Medici, which is rare. Martines presents the positives and the negatives. It took some getting use to after The Agony and the Ecstasy depicts him as the type of father figure you'd love to have.
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