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Tuscany: A History
Ever since the days of the Grand Tour, Tuscany has cast its spell over the British. Attracted by the perfect combination of history, art, architecture, superb natural beauty and weather - not to mention magnificent traditions of food and drink - British visitors and residents have been at times so numerous that the local word for foreigners was simply 'gli inglesi' - 'the English'. Currently over 10,000 Britons live there, not to mention the huge numbers who travel there for holidays. What is it that makes this exquisite part of Italy so seductive? To answer this question Alistair Moffat embarks on a journey into Tuscany's past. From the flowering of the Etruscan civilization in the seventh century BC through the rise of the powerful medieval communes of Arezzo, Luca, Pisa and Florence, and the role the area played as the birthplace of the Renaissance, he underlines both the area's regional uniqueness as well as the vital role it has played in the history of the whole of Italy. Insight
352 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 2009
112 people are currently reading
155 people want to read
About the author
Alistair Moffat
59 books214 followersAlistair Moffat is an award winning writer, historian and former Director of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and Director of Programmes at Scottish Television.
Moffat was educated at the University of St Andrews, graduating in 1972 with a degree in Medieval History. He is the founder of the Borders Book Festival and Co-Chairman of The Great Tapestry of Scotland.
Moffat was educated at the University of St Andrews, graduating in 1972 with a degree in Medieval History. He is the founder of the Borders Book Festival and Co-Chairman of The Great Tapestry of Scotland.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
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February 5, 2017On the one hand, this is full of gorgeous word pictures of Tuscany and incidental nifty bits of historical information, on the other it tries to cover too much ground and ends up skating over vast abysms on very thin ice. The process of reading it was mostly enjoyable, but I'm not quite sure who it's for. The test of a book like this is how it doess on things I really know about, and that's exactly where I started saying "Oh come on" and "Facile" which leaves me wondering about the rest of it. It does have some charming anecdotes though, and a very nice way of putting things -- like saying pope was the ideal job for a retired pirate with a law degree. (Baldasarre Cossa, Antipope John XXIII.)
If you think you might want to go to Italy and know absolutely nothing about it except that there was once a Roman Empire and Michelangelo sculpted David, this might be a useful book to read before you go so that you have a better idea what you're looking at. But really you'd do a lot better reading the Ex Urbe post on the layers of Rome http://www.exurbe.com/?p=2219 I want there to be a book for people like that, and this will sort of do until there's a better one.
Very mixed feelings, as you can see.
If you think you might want to go to Italy and know absolutely nothing about it except that there was once a Roman Empire and Michelangelo sculpted David, this might be a useful book to read before you go so that you have a better idea what you're looking at. But really you'd do a lot better reading the Ex Urbe post on the layers of Rome http://www.exurbe.com/?p=2219 I want there to be a book for people like that, and this will sort of do until there's a better one.
Very mixed feelings, as you can see.
July 8, 2014
A pleasant read. I generally like the anecdotal style but it is oddly, I would say randomly selective. The author reminds me of my first history lecturer, an old Franciscan who would skip alarmingly and without warning across centuries and even millennia and back. I found myself enjoying the book more when I knew least about the subject. On those subjects that I do know about, Renaissance Florence and the career of Galileo, the author is often happy to retail received stories even if they are disputed or even totally discredited. For example, current scholarly opinion about Galileo's experiment using the tower of Pisa is that it was for Galileo a thought experiment and that it was actually carried out by one of his opponents. Looking at the bibliography, on any given topic, he seems to have leapt uncritically on one source. I doubt that he has confined this tendency to the topics that happen to be known to an antipodean philosophy and history teacher. Indeed, it has reminded me of similar misgivings about another book of his that I read a few years back. I enjoyed that book more because I have only subsequently discovered the questions glossed over. Yes, it is popular history but I am not sure an author can use that as an excuse for inaccuracy and a lack of healthy scepticism.
May 30, 2018
What an incredibly rich history. Moffat does a good job of trying to include everything and his use of source material is excellent.
Just 30 years in Florence could fill tomes. The Rivalry between Da Vinci and Michelangelo could fill tomes. An in-depth study of Michelangelo's David could fill tomes. Histories like Moffat's thus become more about what is omitted than included. The big omission is the history of the areas other than Florence. While the rivalry between Pisa, Florence and Siena is explored particularly in the earlier years. Siena and Pisa drop out for centuries not to mention the smaller towns like Pitigliano where his story first starts. There are mentions of what life was like for the farmer and people in small towns but they are definitely deep in the shadows cast by the dominating presence of Florence. This could just as easily have been a history of Florence.
The region of Tuscany is more of a modern concept and as such it is hard to apply it back past the Kingdoms and Medici rule through Imperial Roman times to the Etruscans. Yet Moffat does about as good a job of it as could be expected. The only other glaring error is the almost farcical attempt at talking about football and the modern region of Tuscany in the last few pages. If anything it was probably one of those things worth excluding. There is also an occasional leap back and forward in time which can become a bit confusing.
Moffat does however write with passion and a good sense of humour. You can almost taste his glee when he mentions the Highlander sell swords (from his native Scotland) that made up some of the mercernary armies protecting and invading Tuscany.
Overall, there are some phenomenal gems of information and it is a great start to finding further topics of interest and also ordering Italian history into a more cohesive concept in your mind.
Little things like Sangiovese coming from "Sanguis Iovis", Jupiter's Blood. The buying and selling of towns by other towns provides a lot of hilarious moments. The way the Medici mastered the use of the papacy as an instrument of business is also fascinating. As are their thwarting of many plots against them and their desperate scramble for worthy heirs as they approached the end of their reign.
Just 30 years in Florence could fill tomes. The Rivalry between Da Vinci and Michelangelo could fill tomes. An in-depth study of Michelangelo's David could fill tomes. Histories like Moffat's thus become more about what is omitted than included. The big omission is the history of the areas other than Florence. While the rivalry between Pisa, Florence and Siena is explored particularly in the earlier years. Siena and Pisa drop out for centuries not to mention the smaller towns like Pitigliano where his story first starts. There are mentions of what life was like for the farmer and people in small towns but they are definitely deep in the shadows cast by the dominating presence of Florence. This could just as easily have been a history of Florence.
The region of Tuscany is more of a modern concept and as such it is hard to apply it back past the Kingdoms and Medici rule through Imperial Roman times to the Etruscans. Yet Moffat does about as good a job of it as could be expected. The only other glaring error is the almost farcical attempt at talking about football and the modern region of Tuscany in the last few pages. If anything it was probably one of those things worth excluding. There is also an occasional leap back and forward in time which can become a bit confusing.
Moffat does however write with passion and a good sense of humour. You can almost taste his glee when he mentions the Highlander sell swords (from his native Scotland) that made up some of the mercernary armies protecting and invading Tuscany.
Overall, there are some phenomenal gems of information and it is a great start to finding further topics of interest and also ordering Italian history into a more cohesive concept in your mind.
Little things like Sangiovese coming from "Sanguis Iovis", Jupiter's Blood. The buying and selling of towns by other towns provides a lot of hilarious moments. The way the Medici mastered the use of the papacy as an instrument of business is also fascinating. As are their thwarting of many plots against them and their desperate scramble for worthy heirs as they approached the end of their reign.
April 16, 2025
Impressions and confusions
This book impressed me less than others I've read by this author. Repeatedly, he mentions historical individuals as if the reader should already know who they are. And yet one gets the impression that Moffat views those individuals more as items of momentary interest in a consistent overall flow of Tuscan culture.
In some ways, I would say that this book tries to do too much within its pages. The story of the Etruscans and their (not adequately examined) disappearance into the Roman Empire could be a book all its own. The history of the Medici family could likewise comprise its own volume (with more effort to disentangle the family tree than given here). The history of Italian unification in the 19th century seems to be a longer and more complicated story than what is covered here.
This book does succeed in giving a strong impression of Tuscan cultural identity, but it's difficult to say how much of that is accurate and how much is the personal opinion of Moffat. I feel that I know more than I did about the area than before I began reading, but how much of it can be trusted?
This book impressed me less than others I've read by this author. Repeatedly, he mentions historical individuals as if the reader should already know who they are. And yet one gets the impression that Moffat views those individuals more as items of momentary interest in a consistent overall flow of Tuscan culture.
In some ways, I would say that this book tries to do too much within its pages. The story of the Etruscans and their (not adequately examined) disappearance into the Roman Empire could be a book all its own. The history of the Medici family could likewise comprise its own volume (with more effort to disentangle the family tree than given here). The history of Italian unification in the 19th century seems to be a longer and more complicated story than what is covered here.
This book does succeed in giving a strong impression of Tuscan cultural identity, but it's difficult to say how much of that is accurate and how much is the personal opinion of Moffat. I feel that I know more than I did about the area than before I began reading, but how much of it can be trusted?
June 14, 2021
A pleasant introduction to Tuscan history ostensibly from prehistory to the modern day but strongly centered on Florence during the 15th and 16th century.
Still it has added solidly to my understanding of the beginning and end of the Tuscan state.
I would certainly recommend it to anyone planning a trip to Tuscany who wants a decent grounding to help understand what they are seeing.
Still it has added solidly to my understanding of the beginning and end of the Tuscan state.
I would certainly recommend it to anyone planning a trip to Tuscany who wants a decent grounding to help understand what they are seeing.
March 16, 2018
A brilliant history of the beautiful Tuscany. Thorough and incisive and most importantly, told well. This man has a beautiful writing style that captivates the imagination and bring the history of Tuscany to life.
June 25, 2018
A great read for anyone planning to go to Tuscany or returning from Tuscany. A very comprehensive history and enjoyable to read.
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August 14, 2024A very interesting read, telling how the Tuscany landscape was preserved by the Mezzadria, forcing a division of profit between landowner and farmer, which prevented large scale mechanisation. The early centuries get more attention, from the Etruscans to the Medici. It provides information on the Inglesi, and describes the influence of Italy, quoting E.M. Forster 'the pernicious charm of Italy worked on her and, instead of acquiring information, she began to be happy.' The landscape and climate and 'the liquid plains of the sea', provide the longue duree, the backdrop of history.
Florence's politics were described by Dante as a sick man forever shifting his position in bed.
Petrarca travelleded around Europe searching for manuscripts, and finding letters of Cicero - 'dishonour of earlier generations who, not satisfied with their own disgraceful barrenness, permitted the fruit of other minds to perish. Although they had nothing of their own to hand down to those who were to come after, they robbed posterity of its ancestral heritage.'. The Florentines traded in the Name of God and Profit, were cursed by the Black Death from which Siena never recovered.
A period eye sees things in their contemporary context.
Great introduction to the region!
Florence's politics were described by Dante as a sick man forever shifting his position in bed.
Petrarca travelleded around Europe searching for manuscripts, and finding letters of Cicero - 'dishonour of earlier generations who, not satisfied with their own disgraceful barrenness, permitted the fruit of other minds to perish. Although they had nothing of their own to hand down to those who were to come after, they robbed posterity of its ancestral heritage.'. The Florentines traded in the Name of God and Profit, were cursed by the Black Death from which Siena never recovered.
A period eye sees things in their contemporary context.
Great introduction to the region!
February 11, 2017
Since I went to Tuscany Italy in late September, I wanted to understand the area. This book is a great historical view of one of the best place to visit in Italy. There have been so many books in the last decade on Tuscany, I honestly thought the hype would obscure my outlook on the visit. Surprisingly Tuscany did live up to the hype, it's a beautiful complex place. If anyone is going to Tuscany, this book is a great read prior to the trip.
August 28, 2015
Excellent read
I started reading d ing this book the night I arrived on my second visit to the region. My only regret was that I hadn't before I began my first visit. It covers the history of the region since time immemorial, describing what life was like in the region since long before the Romans right through to Mussolini. Tuscany is a place of singular beauty, and one need not know anything more than what your eye perceives but when you understand the history, what makes the Tuscan people, why the place was host to the rebirth of the West after the Dark Ages, then you can appreciate Tuscany to the fullest. I will be rereading this book again before my next holiday next Spring.
I started reading d ing this book the night I arrived on my second visit to the region. My only regret was that I hadn't before I began my first visit. It covers the history of the region since time immemorial, describing what life was like in the region since long before the Romans right through to Mussolini. Tuscany is a place of singular beauty, and one need not know anything more than what your eye perceives but when you understand the history, what makes the Tuscan people, why the place was host to the rebirth of the West after the Dark Ages, then you can appreciate Tuscany to the fullest. I will be rereading this book again before my next holiday next Spring.
January 23, 2011
This is a pretty good book for those looking for a general overview of the history of Tuscany from cave man to today. The website marks the book length wrong - it's around 250 pages. Not academic or researchy, it's just the amount of detail you want to make the history of Tuscany pleasant, interesting and sometimes entertaining - Moffat keeps it light on details compared to other history books (I found this aspect to be a relief, actually).
January 26, 2015
A great review of the history of the area that I read in preparation for a visit. It was good detail for an overview and did not get bogged down. Far superior to the little history you get in guide books
July 2, 2023
Pretty good for an overview of Tuscany and the work of famous Tuscans through time. Predictably spends most of its pages in the Renaissance.
January 22, 2026
Very interesting and gave a great insight into the history of this beautiful region, worth the read for sure
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews