Monday, January 20, 2025
The Lost Towers of the Guelph-Ghibelline Wars: Ada Palmer goes in-depth, with photos, on Renaissance Italian cities in which the aristocrats built tall towers, “as dense as Manhattan skyscrapers,” as fortresses against their neighbors. Palmer is a knowledgable and conversational writer who brings history to life. Her upcoming book, Inventing the Renaissance: Myths of a Golden Age, is at the top of my to-be-read list, and now I want to go to Italy.