Death in Florence by Paul Strathern Jonathan Cape
Admirers of Florentine Renaissance art do not always recognise that it often served for political promotion. The Medici banking family, dominant in Florence, used the arts to burnish the image of their city.
The high art compensated for low morals, political violence, and a 'soft' dictatorship. Lorenzo Medici, called the Magnificent, who ruled for 22 years after succeeding his father in 1469 - he was only 20 when he came to power - was a shrewd diplomat, a talented poet and also had the popular touch. He promoted an early version of consumer society.
However a short, red-haired monk, Girolamo Savonarola, blew the whistle on a society which seemed to be abandoning Christian standards for hedonism influenced by the Renaissance-era rediscovery of ancient Greek and Roman culture. Savonarola preached vehemently against moral laxness, particularly sodomy, and society's indifference to the needs of the poor.
But Savonarola became embroiled in an even bigger conflict with the corrupt Borgia pope Alexander VI: he was condemned as a heretic and burnt at the stake.
It is a story full of drama, double crosses and cruelty but also of famous figures such as Sandro Botticelli, Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci.