A list of my 10 favorite books on the Italian Renaissance may help. Some are overviews of the time period, some focus in tightly on war or religion or science. Some of my suggestions straddle the Middle Ages and the Renaissance or jump from Italy to France to other countries in Europe. All of the books have helped me get a deeper understanding of the time period, and have introduced me to some of the quirky, fascinating, lives and lifestyles of history.
So here's my top 10. I've forgotten many greats, I'm sure. If you have suggestions to add to the list, please do!
1. The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy by Jacob Burckhardt. Mine is an old illustrated edition in two volumes. This is the must read for students of the Renaissance, though some of Burckhardt's conclusions about Renaissance society must be taken with a grain of salt.
2. The Renaissance: The Story of Civilization Series by Will Durant. I love this entire series, but the Renaissance volume focuses in on Italy especially. Sections include introductions to the large and small cities and dukedoms of Italy, the rebirth of Rome after the neglect during the Papal Schism, and the decline of politics and morals.
3. The Renaissance Reader. The volume I discovered quite recently was out of print, but available at well-stocked libraries. It's a brilliant collection of 15th and 16th century writings by or about all sorts of Renaissance topics: Lorenzo di Medici, the ruins of Rome, Life in Vienna, how popes are elected and so forth. I love documents that let people of the past speak in their own words (in translation, of course).
4. Revelations of the Medieval World: A History of Private Life series. This second volume in the Private Life series is worth it solely for the section "Tuscan Notables on the Eve of the Renaissance." This is a 200-page portrait of daily life in the time period with discussions on marriage, the construction of houses, the importance of the Italian Renaissance bedroom (not only for the obvious reasons), and much about social relationships.
5. Women, Family, and Ritual in Renaissance Italy by Christiane Klapisch-Zuber. It took me months to find a good hardcover copy of this book by one of the leading researchers of the Renaissance. Through analysis of the Florentine Catasto and other social documents, Zuber constructs a portrait of Italian family life.
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