Lorenzo de' Medici:
The embodiment of Florence's most powerful family, a brutal man who ruled the city with an iron fist, whilst protecting it from the shifting mire of Italian politics.
Fra Girolamo Savonarola:
An unprepossessing provincial monk whose sermons, filled with Old Testament fury, resonated with the disenfranchised population of the city.
The battle between these two men would be a fight to the death, a series of sensational events - including a mighty foreign invasion, trial by fire, the 'Bonfire of the Vanities', terrible executions and mysterious deaths - featuring a cast of the most important and charismatic Renaissance figures.
Paul Strathern has lectured in philosophy and mathematics and is a Somerset Maugham Prize–winning novelist. He is the author of two series—Philosophers in 90 Minutes and The Big Idea: Scientists Who Changed the World—Napoleon in Egypt, and the Sunday Times bestseller The Medici: Godfathers of the Renaissance. He lives in London.
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