What Life Was Like at the Rebirth of Genius: Renaissance Italy, Ad 1400-1550

As far as picture books go, "What Life Was Like at the Birth of Genius" was as informative as it was entertaining, and a surprisingly quick read. It describes a large cast of people who populated the scene of the Italian Renaissance. The stories are fascinating: Scions and businessmen, ordinary people and aristocrats; artists, artisans, rulers, priests, popes and scoundrels--not all neatly categorized in the places you would think they belong. Read "What Life Was Like at the Rebirth of Genius" for a picture of a dynamic turning point for culture, thought, and creative enterprise.

I ordered this book for the students of AP European History class at the school. The pictures are vivid, original and very illustrative of the time and place. There is significant variety with maps, sculture, paintings from the time period and photographs of the land today. The text is well-written, informative, and extensive covering personalities and culture. Original sources, such as letters and books, are used to create the content. However, this is not a book to use as a resource for a scholarly paper. It does include a bibliography, glossary, and picture credits at the end.It reminded me of the Dorling Kindersley Eyewitness series only written for adults. It has a similar style of picture, boxes of related text, and information.