Short list of recommended resources for Medici Florence

If you would like to learn a little more about our topic, but don't have a lot of extra time to invest, try some of these resources. Jerry Brotton's The Renaissance: A Very Short Introduction (2006, 148pp., also available in Kindle format) puts the period in the broadest possible context, emphasizing often neglected aspects like the influence of Byzantine and Islamic cultures and the role of new technologies like the printing press. The Renaissance – In a Nutshell by Peter Whitfield provides a concise and insightful summary of the Italian Renaissance, with special emphasis on Florence, in a 72-minute audiobook (2009). If you don't mind the melodramatic presentation style, PBS has a four-part video series on The Medici, Godfathers of the Renaissance as part of its Empires series (3 hours, 40 minutes, available through Netflix). It provides a solid introduction to our topic, and features our Friday night speaker, Dale Kent, as one of the academic commentators. If art is your primary interest, A. Richard Turner's Renaissance Florence: The Invention of a New Art provides a lavishly illustrated introduction (1997, 176pp.). Finally, an excellent web site Renaissance – Focus on Florence provides a wealth of background material aimed at teachers under the umbrella of Annenberg Media's Learner.org (http://www.learner.org/interactives/renaissance/florence.html).