About this title: Expatriate writer Tim Parks brings to bear his considerable expertise in all things Italian on this in-depth look at Florence in the Renaissance that focuses on the dichotomy between the spirit of enterprise that resulted in the flowering of the arts, and the Christian belief that wealth and prosperity lead on a direct path to perdition. Parks ...
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Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Profile Business
Date Published: 2006
ISBN-13:9781861977571ISBN:1861977573
Description: Good. Our aim is to create value for our customers through the provision of low cost, affordable products and an overall satisfying buying experience. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Date Published: 2005-04-11
ISBN-13:9780393058277ISBN:0393058271
Description: Good. Good title in good condition. Pages are clean and tight. DJ shows some shelf wear and bumping. DJ shows some shelf wear and bumping. Satisfaction guaranteed. If item not as described, return for refund of purchase price. read more
Description: Good. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. Only lightly used. Book has minimal wear to cover and binding. A few pages may have small creases and minimal underlining. Book selection as BIG as Texas. read more
Description: Good. Dust Jacket present. GOOD with average wear to cover and pages. We offer a no-hassle guarantee on all our items. Orders generally ship by the next business day. Default Text. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Date Published: 2005
ISBN-13:9780393058277ISBN:0393058271
Description: Fine in Like News jacket. Hardcover with dust jacket, Like New, clean, tight. There is a remainder mark to the bottom page edges as well as slight edgewear to the dust jacket. All orders are shipped by kbooks every business day. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Date Published: 2005-04-11
ISBN-13:9780393058277ISBN:0393058271
Description: Good. Ex-lib copy in good, solid, clean condition. Little shelf wear only, binding is tight, pages are clean. No writing or highlighting, just normal library markings. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: W.W. Norton & Co
Date Published: 2006-05-17
ISBN-13:9780393328455ISBN:0393328457
Description: Like New. Never Owned Or Read! May Have Light Shelf Wear And Or Publisher Mark. NEW CONDITION OTHER THAN PUBLISHERS REMAINDER MARK! read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Profile Business
Date Published: 06/04/2006
ISBN-13:9781861977571ISBN:1861977573
Description: Used-Good. Book in good or better condition. Dispatched same day from warehouse. Please email with any questions for quick response. read more
Description: Fine. 0393328457 Ships next business day. NEW/UNREAD! ! ! Text is Clean and Unmarked! --Be Sure to Compare Seller Feedback and Ratings before Purchasing--Has a small black dot on bottom/exterior edge of pages. May have light shelf wear to cover from storage, if any. read more
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: W W Norton & Co Inc, Scranton, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.
Date Published: 2005
ISBN-13:9780393058277ISBN:0393058271
Description: Very Good in Very Good jacket. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. xii, 273 pp. A few instances of underlining and marginal commentary, a notation on rear flyleaf, otherwise clean, with only the slightest shelf wear. Dust jacket shows modest shelf wear. read more
Description: Very Good. 0393328457 Paperback, Condition: Very Good; this book is in very good condition with light discoloration due to aging and other light wear. read more
"This book hit two of my sweet spots: the Florentine Renaissance and international banking.
Believe it or not, it's a quick read, a good subway or airport book.....and a sobering commentary on the persistence of human folly.
Parks covers the financial and economic topics with a light touch and an eye for the ironic tensions between arbitrage and the biblical prohiition of usury.
One interesting facet of this conflict between faith and finance is that it is exactly the problem that sharia banking was invented to solve....
Some people say that the Renaissance started out as a set of dates chosen by historians as an excuse for studying an intriguing period of history. This viewpoint includes the contention that the High Middle Ages and other phases of Euopean history shared all the pivotal impact and the intellectual history of the rebirth of classical learning.
That may be true.
But....in the world of history , they don't let the facts get in the way of a good story.
As one of my secondary school teachers said, "We remember the future as we imagine the past."
It's a wonder that intellectuals should be so transfixed by an era of history when torturing intellectuals to death was considered a means of protecting public morals and supressing social disorders.
Maybe we do have a lot to learn from the Renaissance......"
"As the title indicates, the book undeniably exposes the money of the Medici as it relates to their banking and patronage - artistic/dogmatic, in Florence during the 1400's. It features the Renaissance Medici men from Giovanni Di Bicci to Piero di Lorenzo (respectively the first and the last of that era; the era of the Medici bank) and those that surrounded them - the godly and the diabolical. This book is somewhat misleading or rather - it didn't fulfill my expectation or anticipation. The book is really about where our modern thought and banking originated (debatable) - it's a commentary on government and economics. There are also two themes or motives that run, clandestinely, through out the book: the triangle or trinity and the dichotomy - ternary and binary antonyms.`
It ended abruptly, maybe apropos to the abrupt but consequential end to the Medici bank. The book was purchased for me in a reaction and support of my pride and zeal in Italy. The flow of the book is disjunct. It is very conversational, like sitting down with a friend rant about all these cool things they learned. The style is refreshing for the first few chapters; it's almost like a long article or journal entry, but certainly didactic. It is refreshing because the content can, in any other setting, precariously slip in to monotony.
Some quotes from the book that I really enjoyed + some reactions: "At this point, my advice is to stop worrying too much about "the truth" and to go back to what material from the time is still available and readable."
"It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for the rich man to enter the kingdom of God." ' every body knows what. Yet who was richer than prince and cardinal?'
"..as between any permanent enemies. They need each other to become themselves."
"...money, as we have already said, is that it does not respect traditional hierarchies."
"..delirium of piety and empire."
"...Gobbled up, the fruit is never properly swallowed."
"This is a cool book but not nearly as cool as I thought. It was voted one of the best books of the year (2007?) by Economist. This book certainly teaches the reader about the time when it is set - 1400 Florence (and Italy in general). However, I feel as though there have to be better books out there that cover this time period and these characters and their important impact on society via artists, Catholic popes and their control of the city of Florence than this book. And if there isn't a better book out there (perhaps that why the Economist voted it one of the year's best) there ought to be a better book."
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