The Day the Renaissance Was Saved

Praise

”Capponi provides an intense but relatable look at key Italian families in the era’s unforgiving struggles between the influence of city-states and papal power…The narrative itself flows smoothly in Naffis-Sahely’s English translation, allowing Capponi’s smart imagery to shine through as he illuminates Florence’s successful struggle for survival.” —Publishers Weekly
 
“Capponi presents a scholarly yet engaging account of the events leading up to and including the little-known, historically significant Battle of Anghiari…A significant survey of an important battle and its outcomes as retold by an expert of Italian Renaissance military and political history.” —Library Journal

“The Day the Renaissance Was Saved is a peeling onion of hidden motives. [Capponi] contends that Western history would have taken a dark turn if the brutish Milanese had won the day.” — Open Letters Monthly

“No shortage of plot in this historian’s account. There’s Milan clashing with Florence, the Papal States, and Venice; a lost work by the Mona Lisa’s master; a tipping point that shifted the course of history, brought the Medicis to power, and might be responsible for the Renaissance itself.”
—Vulture, 45 Books to Read This Fall

“A fascinating account of a turbulent period in European history. Not only are the key figures covered in detail, but the tactics and strategies of the mercenary armies of the day also are included.”—Military Heritage

“Capponi has an excellent grasp of the material. He describes the battle’s history effortlessly yet in great detail…Recommended for scholars and students of Italian military and political history, Florentine history, and the Italian Renaissance.”—ARLIS/NA (Art Libraries Society of North America)

Praise for Victory of the West: The Great Christian-Muslim Clash at the Battle of Lepanto
 
“Capponi lives up to his reputation in his first major U.S. publication. A fresh, multilayered analysis.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
 
“Great attention to detail . . . An absorbing and even thrilling account.”
—Booklist

Praise for An Unlikely Prince: The Life and Times of Machiavelli

“Detailed and engaging.”
—Times Literary Supplement