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Review title: Vast subject, great book!
Product review: How can anybody really expect to survey the history of Italy in one volume? Arguably, Oxford is one of the few publishers audacious enough to give it a damn good go, and the effort succeeds admirably. This is, from necessity, a densely written but also nicely illustrated book, which spans the entire political, cultural and social history of a turbulent country and its many different peoples and invaders. Holmes is at his best on the Renaissance, particularly on the early decades of sublime art produced before the overblown muscularity of the Sistine Chapel and St Peter's. But this history is not just the story of Caesars and Medici, as are so many others. It traces the complex political development of the country we now know as Italy, which was, after all, in the making for over 2000 years. Highly recommended, even if you only look at the pictures!
