Book info

• Title
• Author Christopher Hibbert
• Year
• Genres

Thoughts

I’m gradually getting more and more interested in history books, the more I read the more I want to know. This was recommended to me a long, long time ago, and I’ve just got around to finishing it. On the one hand, it’s a good book, well-written and interesting. On the other hand, all the people within it are awful!

Tracking a period in 16th Century Italy, where the Borgia family dominated - becoming Pope, raising armies, taking over cities and dukedoms wherever possible - the book chronicles a generation or two of the family. There’s murder and incest, pillaging and backstabbing, and ultimately not a lot of redeeming features along the way.

It was good to read about the triumphs and tragedies, how everything unfolded and what life was like back then, but it was hard to get fully engaged when there were no sympathetic characters at all!

Rating: Unrated