The Pazzi Conspiracy: The Plot Against the Medici

by Harold Acton

A work specializing in in the Pazzi conspiracy at the height of the Italian Renaissance

128 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 1979

About the author

Sir Harold Mario Mitchell Acton was a British writer, scholar and dilettante who is probably most famous for being believed, incorrectly, to have inspired the character of "Anthony Blanche" in Evelyn Waugh's novel Brideshead Revisited (1945).

Reviews

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Succinct and well written this is a small volume about an interesting yet unsettling time in history. In many ways it is Renaissance politics (which included the Pope and the Holy Roman Church) at their worst. But it also shows the strength of Lorenzo and gives an understanding as to why he was then and still called "the Magnificent". It does not paint him as "the Perfect", but gives a great example of his strengths and his weaknesses. Since it mainly dealt with the Pazzi Conspiracy, there is much about the time and people that were just briefly touched on, but it is an interesting read and a small window into a turbulent yet extremely productive time in Italian arts. It inspired me to want to delve deeper into the life and times of Lorenzo and his contemporaries. To me that indicates a good book.

[Neve · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brilliant read that I shall definitely repeat. Acton writes a wonderfully informative book in such a small amount of pages.

Though I did find it strange how much focus was on the Medici when the book was supposed to be on the conspiracy rather than the family. I was using this as research on the Pazzi family specifically and though helpful in some areas, was lacking in the timeline.

[S.L. Barrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A concise yet disappointing account.

I appreciate the author is working with the available information, and with that in mind, the book reads well, gives plenty of information in an easily digestible manner, very clear and comprehensive.

However having said that, I was hoping that a book about the Pazzi conspiracy, which heralds the Pazzi coat of arms on its cover, would in fact contain more on the Pazzi family, yet it mainly regards Lorenzo Medici. Which is all well and good and I appreciate the information, but nevertheless was left without much in the way of information regarding the Pazzi family.

It is difficult to find much in the way of biography on the Pazzi family (possibly due to the family being effectively erased following the botched assassinstion of Lorenzo) and I bought this book in the hope there would be a more in depth and extensive look at the Pazzi, which I didn't get.

Overall it was a good light read and helped me to understand the political intricacies of the events leading up to, including, and following the conspiracy. If that's what you want, then I recommend it.