A Times Literary Supplement Book of the Year
"Fascinating. . . . Explore[s] the dualities of creative brilliance and human baseness." –
The Spectator "An entertaining frolic buttressed by serious scholarship. . . . An illuminating look at how the flowering of human imagination celebrated in the Renaissance was fertilized by the excesses of human nature." –
Kirkus Reviews "Effortlessly combining scholarly depth with a highly accessible style. . . . Lee has given us a Renaissance that is . . . uglier, but infinitely more interesting." –
New Humanist