Public Life in Renaissance Florence Book

Meanders its way through the first two thirds, but picks it up by the last third and argues forcefully that the ritual landscape of Florence was irremediably changed through Medicean intervention, but that these changes were adopted and used equally by Savonarola, Soderini, and the Last Republic as they were by the Medici. This suggests a real cultural shift in the use and meaning of public rituals.

Would have benefited from a more textured and respectful treatment of religion as a true motivator, and less cynicism overall. Still trapped in the tradition of the secular Renaissance, which has been more or less exploded since publication.