'Wise, witty, razor-sharp' Stephen Greenblatt, author of The Swerve: How the Renaissance BeganInterested in Machiavelli?That may be a bad sign.We always turn to Machiavelli at crisis points in history
A fresh, radical history of France and its place in the world that offers short, accessible articles on topics ranging from the Chauvet Cave all the way to the events of 2015. Bringing together an imp
From one of the foremost medievalists of our time, a groundbreaking work on history and memory that goes well beyond the life of this influential saint. Elected bishop of Milan by popular acclaim in 374, Ambrose went on to become one of the four original Doctors of the Church. There is much more to this book, however, than the captivating story of the bishop who baptized Saint Augustine in the fourth century. Trace and Aura investigates how a crucial figure from the past can return in different guises over and over again, in a city that he inspired and shaped through his beliefs and political convictions. His recurring lives actually span more than ten centuries, from the fourth to the sixteenth.In the process of following Ambrose’s various reincarnations, Patrick Boucheron draws compelling connections between religion, government, tyranny, the Italian commune, Milan’s yearning for autonomy, and many other aspects of this fascinating relationship between a city and its spiritual