Renaissance Diplomacy

by Garrett Mattingly

Famed historian's definitive history of the origins of diplomacy, tracing the diplomat's role as it emerged in the Italian city-states and spread northward in the 16th and 17th centuries. "An important book...carefully and elegantly written." — The Times (London). "Excellent." — New York Herald Tribune . Notes. Bibliography. Index.

Genres: History, Politics, Nonfiction, Renaissance, European History, Medieval, Medieval History

284 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1955

About the author

Garrett Mattingly was a Professor of European History at Columbia University. He was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 1960 for his The Defeat of the Spanish Armada.

Reviews

[C · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for my "History of Diplomacy" class...a bit dry and boring for my taste, but had a lot of relevant information and definitely an excellent source for understanding the growth of diplomacy during the Renaissance era

[Jo Walton]

Dry, and obsessed with how Renaissance Diplomacy prefigures modern diplomacy, rather than being an interesting subject in its own right. A solid worthy book but not much fun.

[Dominique Lamssies · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book with a wealth of information about its topic. Mattingly actually made me care about Italian Renaissance politics, so that counts for a lot in my book.

[Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pulitzer Prize winner Garrett Mattingly's books will be read for decades yet, to the benefit of history students amateur and professional. The writing style of 65 years ago was more dense than nowadays, so be prepared to read carefully.

[Skallagrimsen]

The classic exposition of international relations in early modern Europe, with an emphasis on how they established the conventions of diplomacy that persist to the present day. More a book for scholars than general readers. Any subsequent well researched work touching on the subject probably lists Renaissance Diplomacy in its bibliography.