
Soul of a Renaissance City, Paul Strarthern
I read this while in Florence at the end of April. A highlight was visiting the cell in the Convent of San Marco where Savonarola did so much of his writing.
Compassion for the citizens of Florence and all of Renaissance Italy living in those treacherous times. Physical punishment was brutal; shifting political tide shifted quickly and frequently, and often without warning.
And yet, during this time, Florence was the leading (only) republican for of government in Italy.