Reviews for Savonarola

The average rating for Savonarola based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2017-08-10 00:00:00 Melita Mayfield Beautiful writing of a person who weilded great power and influence.

Review # 2 was written on 2017-09-01 00:00:00 Mark White Depending on who you ask, Savonarola was a saint & a martyr or he was a fanatical extremist who subjected Renaissance Florence into a four-year reign of terror. He was a tyrant, or a promoter of republicanism. He was a prophet, or a self-aggrandizing liar. If I had to guess, I'd say he was probably all of them? I am not a fan of the guy at all, but he's one of those historical figures that's so enshrouded in myth that what you think about him probably says more about you than it does about Savonarola himself. Lauro Martines's book provides a nice account of a very dramatic story, but it suffers a bit for not being able to decide what it wants to be. There are parts that read like the first draft of a yet-to-be-written screenplay, whereas others aim for a more subdued and scholarly analysis of Savonarola's preaching style. I think it's an admirable attempt, but Fire in the City is ultimately too cursory to be much use as a scholarly volume and too fragmented to work well as an introduction for non-specialists. I wish it had either been a really well-crafted narrative history or a more in-depth thematic study. Instead, it tries to be both and as a result doesn't really do either well. Martines tends to give Savonarola every benefit of the doubt, whether discussing his roving bands of youths who broke up gambling dens, accused people of sodomy, and pressured people to throw their 'vanities' onto bonfires or discussing his role in the execution of some leading Florentine citizens in 1497. To a certain extent this approach is sort of admirable, since it would be much easier to cast the guy as a villain. But I do think that he takes it too far. Martines puts him on the right side of almost every conflict, which is a bit too much even for a sympathetic portrayal of the guy.