Overview

A concise, star-studded retelling of Italy's past, from Caesar and Augustus to da Vinci and Michelangelo, tracing the story of a country with prodigious global influence--from a foremost author of historic Italy. The calendar. The Senate. The university. The piano, the heliocentric model, and the pizzeria. It's hard to imagine a world without Italian influence--and easy to assume that inventions like these could only come from a strong, stable peninsula, sure of its place in the world. In this breakneck history, bestselling author Ross King dismantles this assumption, uncovering the story of a land rife with inner uncertainty even as its influence spread. As the Italian tale unfolds, prosperity and power fluctuate like the elevation in the Dolomites. If Rome's seven hills could talk, they might speak of the glorious time of Trajan--or bemoan the era of conquest and the Bubonic Plague that decimated Rome's population. Episodes of wealth like the First Triumvirate and the time of the Medicis are given fresh life alongside descriptions the Middle Ages, the early days of Venice, the invasion of Napoleon, and the long struggle for unification. King paints a colorful, fascinating portrait of a country that remains compelling not just to tens of millions of Italian Americans, but to the millions of Americans who visit Italy every year.

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Ross King is the author of many bestselling books on Italian history and art, including Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling and Brunelleschi's Dome. He lectures widely on Renaissance art at museums, including the Art Institute of Chicago, the Frick Collection, and the National Gallery, and is a regular participant in Italian Renaissance seminars at the Aspen Institute. He lives in the historic town of Woodstock, near Oxford, England. Liam Gerrard is an award-winning voice artist with over ten years of experience working in every field of the voice industry, as well as a highly acclaimed stage and screen actor. His animation Walter Tull-Britain's First Black Officer was nominated for a BAFTA in 2016, and he has been nominated for an Audie Award in 2017. He has narrated over thirty audiobooks in a wide range of genres and styles. He comes from a large Irish family, although he was raised in Yorkshire before moving to the Middle East, where he went to school. He studied at Lancaster University and then as a classically trained actor at Mountview; he is currently the youngest actor to play the lead role of Prospero in Shakespeare's The Tempest in London's West End. He has worked for the most renowned theater companies, including the Royal Exchange Theatre (two Manchester theater award nominations), Edinburgh Lyceum Theatre (five Critics Choice nominations), Soho Theatre (MTN nomination), and most regional theaters throughout the U.K., including Alan Aykbourn's SJT, New Vic, Oldham Coliseum, Nottingham Playhouse, and Theatre by the Lake. His wide-ranging experience has also seen him perform Opera in Rigoletto. He is an associate lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University in Broadcast Voice and is also a communication skills specialist and trainer. In addition, he is an examiner for the Royal College of Psychiatry, Royal College of Surgeons, Royal Scottish College of Surgery. In his spare time Liam is also a musician who plays the violin, drums, piano, and percussion. He also enjoys spending time with Peg, his Springer Spaniel, out on the Peak District whenever he can get away from the studio!

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