{"title":"Paul Strathern","description":"\u003cp\u003ePaul Strathern's works delve into pivotal moments and figures in history, offering rich narratives that illuminate the complexities of past eras. From the intrigue of Renaissance families to the rise and fall of great cities, his books invite readers to explore influential times and transformative ideas with clarity and depth.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eCombining meticulous research with engaging storytelling, Strathern crafts biographies and historical accounts that bring the human stories behind events to life. His writing appeals to those curious about the forces that have shaped the world, blending intellectual insight with accessible prose.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"the-borgias","title":"The Borgias","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003ci\u003eThe Borgias\u003c\/i\u003e by Paul Strathern is a riveting exploration into the lives and legacies of one of history's most infamous dynasties. Through meticulous research and vivid storytelling, Strathern brings to life the turbulent era characterized by ruthless ambition, political intrigue, and extraordinary cultural achievements. \n\nThe story unfolds with the ascension of Rodrigo Borgia to the papacy as Pope Alexander VI. His reign is marked by scandal and controversy, paving the way for his children, Cesare and Lucrezia, who are embroiled in tales of ambition, power, and treachery. Cesare Borgia, a military genius, and the enigmatic Lucrezia become central figures in this dramatic narrative, capturing the imagination of contemporaries and historians alike.\n\nThe Borgias are synonymous with sin and corruption, routinely wielding power with a blatant disregard for morality. However, beneath the sensationalist veneer lies a family responsible for significant contributions to the Renaissance, an era that saw the flourishing of art, science, and humanism. As patrons of luminaries like Leonardo da Vinci, their legacy extends beyond their notorious reputation to include the nurturing of pivotal advancements in culture and knowledge.\n\nA \u003ci\u003eDaily Mail\u003c\/i\u003e Book of the Week\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\"The sensational story of the rise and fall of one of the most notorious families in history.\"\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e'A wickedly entertaining read'\u003c\/em\u003e - \u003ci\u003eThe Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\nPacked with intrigue, \u003ci\u003eThe Borgias\u003c\/i\u003e offers a vivid mosaic of Renaissance Italy, weaving together tales of war, religion, and philosophy. Strathern's narrative skillfully navigates through the dark corridors of power, unveiling the psychological complexities and unapologetic actions of the Borgia family. Readers will find themselves engrossed in this portrait of a bygone era, where extreme wealth and influence often led to epic downfalls.\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e'A vivid insight into the hothouse world of papal politics in the tumultuous years before the Reformation.'\u003c\/em\u003e - \u003ci\u003eDaily Telegraph\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e'Authoritative and well-written'\u003c\/em\u003e - \u003ci\u003eWall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Allen \u0026 Unwin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45706989043948,"sku":"9781786495464","price":36.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9781786495464.jpg?v=1725894365"},{"product_id":"the-florentines","title":"The Florentines","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBetween the birth of Dante in 1265 and the death of Galileo in 1642, something happened which completely revolutionised Western civilisation. Painting, sculpture, and architecture would all visibly change in a striking fashion. Likewise, the thought and self-conception of humanity would take on a completely different aspect. Sciences would be born — or emerge in an entirely new guise.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn this sweeping 400-year history, Paul Strathern reveals how, and why, these new ideas which formed the Renaissance began, and flourished, in the city of Florence. Just as central and northern Germany gave birth to the Reformation, Britain was a driver of the Industrial Revolution, and Silicon Valley shaped the digital age, so too, Strathern argues, did Florence play a similarly unique and transformative role in the Renaissance.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWhile vividly bringing to life the city and a vast cast of characters — including Dante, Botticelli, Machiavelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Galileo — Strathern shows how these great Florentines forever altered Europe and the Western world.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Allen \u0026 Unwin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45707101536492,"sku":"9781786498748","price":27.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9781786498748.jpg?v=1725895748"},{"product_id":"dark-brilliance-by-paul-strathern-9781838958565","title":"Dark Brilliance","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBetween the end of the Renaissance and the start of the Enlightenment, Europe lived through an era known as the Age of Reason. This was a period which saw advances in areas such as art, science, philosophy, political theory, and economics. However, all this was achieved against a background of extreme turbulence in the form of internal conflicts and international wars. While the 'land of liberty' was beginning to import slaves from Africa.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFocusing on key characters from the seventeenth to the eighteenth centuries, including Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Newton, Descartes, Spinoza, Louis XIV, and Charles I, \u003ci\u003eDark Brilliance\u003c\/i\u003e is a fascinating and wide-ranging history that explores the human costs of imposing progress and modernity.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Allen \u0026 Unwin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46832750231788,"sku":"9781838958565","price":45.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/b8eea4e3100b7da21494614906205de3.jpg?v=1758436236"},{"product_id":"ten-cities-that-led-the-world-by-paul-strathern-9781529356441","title":"Ten Cities that Led the World","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'A book of ideas [...] Strathern ably guides us through these moments of glory.' -- \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e*\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eGreat cities are complex, chaotic and colossal. These are cities that dominate the world stage and define eras; where ideas flourish, revolutions are born and history is made.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThrough ten unique cities, from the founding of ancient capitals to buzzing modern megacities, Paul Strathern explores how urban centres lead civilisation forward, enjoying a moment of glory before passing on the baton.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWe journey back to discover Babylonian mathematics, Athenian theatre and intellectual debate, and Roman construction that has lasted millennia. We see Constantinople evolve into Istanbul, revolutionary sparks fly in Enlightenment Paris, and the railways, canals and ships that built Imperial London. In Moscow, men build spaceships while others starve, New York's skyscrapers rise up to a soundtrack of jazz, Mumbai becomes home to immense wealth and poverty, and Beijing's economic transformation leads the way.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eEach city has its own distinct personality, and \u003ci\u003eTen Cities that Led the World\u003c\/i\u003e brings their rich and diverse histories to life, reminding us of the foundations we have built on and how our futures will be shaped.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Hachette New Zealand Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46833542037740,"sku":"9781529356441","price":29.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/13986133482732.jpg?v=1758464971"},{"product_id":"the-other-renaissance-by-paul-strathern-9781838955168","title":"The Other Renaissance","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt is generally accepted that the European Renaissance began in Italy. However, a historical transformation of similar magnitude also took place in northern Europe at the same time. This \u003cem\u003eOther Renaissance\u003c\/em\u003e was initially centred on the city of Bruges in Flanders (modern Belgium), but its influence was soon being felt in France, the German states, England, and even in Italy itself.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFollowing a sequence of major figures, including Copernicus, Gutenberg, Luther, Catherine de Medici, Rabelais, van Eyck and Shakespeare, Paul Strathern tells the fascinating story of how this \u003cem\u003eOther Renaissance\u003c\/em\u003e played as significant a role as the Italian renaissance in bringing our modern world into being.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Allen \u0026 Unwin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46833706107116,"sku":"9781838955168","price":39.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/20536503482842.jpg?v=1758476043"},{"product_id":"dark-brilliance-by-paul-strathern-9781838958558","title":"Dark Brilliance","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBetween the end of the Renaissance and the start of the Enlightenment, Europe lived through an era known as the Age of Reason. This was a period which saw advances in areas such as art, science, philosophy, political theory, and economics. However, all this was achieved against a background of extreme turbulence in the form of internal conflicts and international wars. While the 'land of liberty' was beginning to import slaves from Africa.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFocusing on key characters from the seventeenth to the eighteenth centuries, including Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Newton, Descartes, Spinoza, Louis XIV, and Charles I, \u003ci\u003eDark Brilliance\u003c\/i\u003e is a fascinating and wide-ranging history that explores the human costs of imposing progress and modernity.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Allen \u0026 Unwin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46848909607148,"sku":"9781838958558","price":65.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/20570403482842.jpg?v=1759003629"},{"product_id":"rise-and-fall-by-paul-strathern-9781473698666","title":"Rise and Fall","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eRise and Fall\u003c\/i\u003e opens with the Akkadian Empire, which ruled over a vast expanse of the region of ancient Mesopotamia, then turns to the immense Roman Empire, where we trace back our western and eastern roots.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eNext, Strathern describes how a great deal of Western classical culture was developed in the Abbasid and Umayyid Caliphates. Then, while Europe was beginning to emerge from a period of cultural stagnation, it almost fell to a whirlwind invasion from the East, at which point we meet the Emperors of the Mongol Empire...\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eCombining breathtaking scope with masterful concision, Paul Strathern traces connections across four millennia and sheds new light on these major civilizations - from the Mongol Empire and the Yuan Dynasty to the Aztec and Ottoman, through to the most recent and biggest Empires: the British, Russo-Soviet, and American.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eCharting 5,000 years of global history in ten succinct chapters, \u003ci\u003eRise and Fall\u003c\/i\u003e makes comprehensive and inspiring reading for anyone fascinated by the history of the world.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Hachette New Zealand Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46849942913260,"sku":"9781473698666","price":29.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/19124183482712.jpg?v=1759064273"},{"product_id":"dark-brilliance-by-paul-strathern-9781838958589","title":"Dark Brilliance","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA sweeping history of the Age of Reason, which shows how, although it was a time of progress in many areas, it was also an era of brutality and intolerance, by the author of \u003ci\u003eThe Borgias\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Florentines\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eDuring the 1600s, between the end of the Renaissance and the start of the Enlightenment, Europe lived through an era known as the Age of Reason. This was a revolutionary period which saw great advances in areas such as art, science, philosophy, political theory and economics.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eHowever, all this was accomplished against a background of extreme political turbulence and irrational behaviour on a continental scale in the form of internal conflicts and international wars. Indeed, the Age of Reason itself was born at the same time as the Thirty Years' War, which would devastate central Europe to an extent that would not be seen again until the twentieth century.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBy exploring all the key events and bringing to life some of the most influential characters of the era, including Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Newton, Descartes, Spinoza, Louis XIV and Charles I, Paul Strathern tells the story of this paradoxical age, while also counting the human cost of imposing the progress and modernity upon which the Western world was built.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Allen \u0026 Unwin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47424016449772,"sku":"9781838958589","price":32.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9781838958589.jpg?v=1774769425"}],"url":"https:\/\/bookhero.pro\/collections\/paul-strathern.oembed","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}