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franciraolo's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
3.5
It’s a bit anticlimactic, too academic.
eleniphant's review against another edition
informative
4.0
Thank you assassin’s creed for making me pursue a new hyperfixation lmao.
Listened to this on audio, the narrator was great and I really enjoyed hearing about life at the time and more about the various accounts of this woman (and how some may have been twisted), there were parts that did feel a bit dry but overall, the amount of voice memos I sent friends infodumping about what I learned, loved it! You can really tell this was thoroughly researched.
2024 may be a year for biography audiobooks of underdiscussed woman in history.
Listened to this on audio, the narrator was great and I really enjoyed hearing about life at the time and more about the various accounts of this woman (and how some may have been twisted), there were parts that did feel a bit dry but overall, the amount of voice memos I sent friends infodumping about what I learned, loved it! You can really tell this was thoroughly researched.
2024 may be a year for biography audiobooks of underdiscussed woman in history.
pocketvolcano's review against another edition
5.0
Caterina Sforza de Medici was a brave, intelligent, courageous woman who made a fool out of one of the most infamous men of her time, Cesare Borgia during his seige of Forli. This book was a wonderful, engaging read that I highly enjoyed. If you are interested in famous women, Renaissance Italy, or the Sforza family give this a try.
themyskira's review against another edition
4.0
An excellent and compelling biography of a truly fascinating figure. Lev provides a thoughtful and well-researched look at one of the Italian Renaissance's most notorious women, Caterina Riario Sforza.
Caterina's story is fascinating enough on its own -- this is a woman who married three times, two of them in secret and for love rather than politics; who took command of the Castel Sant'Angelo and held the College of Cardinals to ransom while seven months pregnant; who weathered out sieges and stared down armies and earned widespread notoriety before ultimately losing her lands and titles to Cesare Borgia and being forced to weather out a rather brutal period of imprisonment. What I particularly like about Lev's book is that it really humanises Caterina, looking beyond the legends (Caterina did not, in fact, flash her genitals at Ravaldino, nor did she attempt to poison Pope Alexander VI) and exploring the woman behind them -- her passions, her strengths, her failings, her mistakes. The tigress on the ramparts at Ravaldino, screaming down to the men who threaten her children that she can easily bear more sons-- that may be a striking image, but as Lev picks apart legend from fact and delves into the realities of that day, a far more nuanced and powerful story emerges.
Lev engages critically with primary accounts, picking apart the context and motivations that coloured their authors' opinions of Caterina. Her writing is engaging and easy to read as she succeeds in bringing to life the figures of Caterina's day.
For anybody interested in learning more about one of the coolest ladies of Renaissance Italy, I'd absolutely recommend this book. It's a fascinating and very enjoyable read.
Caterina's story is fascinating enough on its own -- this is a woman who married three times, two of them in secret and for love rather than politics; who took command of the Castel Sant'Angelo and held the College of Cardinals to ransom while seven months pregnant; who weathered out sieges and stared down armies and earned widespread notoriety before ultimately losing her lands and titles to Cesare Borgia and being forced to weather out a rather brutal period of imprisonment. What I particularly like about Lev's book is that it really humanises Caterina, looking beyond the legends (Caterina did not, in fact, flash her genitals at Ravaldino, nor did she attempt to poison Pope Alexander VI) and exploring the woman behind them -- her passions, her strengths, her failings, her mistakes. The tigress on the ramparts at Ravaldino, screaming down to the men who threaten her children that she can easily bear more sons-- that may be a striking image, but as Lev picks apart legend from fact and delves into the realities of that day, a far more nuanced and powerful story emerges.
Lev engages critically with primary accounts, picking apart the context and motivations that coloured their authors' opinions of Caterina. Her writing is engaging and easy to read as she succeeds in bringing to life the figures of Caterina's day.
For anybody interested in learning more about one of the coolest ladies of Renaissance Italy, I'd absolutely recommend this book. It's a fascinating and very enjoyable read.
beiyunliu's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
5.0
cupiscent's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
4.0
This was as interesting and fun as I was expecting. I think I came to this via extra-reading bibliography in Guy Gavriel Kay's recent novels, because some of the people and events recounted in here seemed very familiar, but this was also abutting various other historical and intellectual areas of interest (hello to Machiavelli, to Brunelleschi, to Medicis and Borgias, to Charles V and of course to Venice).
I also, amusingly, ran into my husband's Guicciardini-inspired dislike of the Sforzas, and many discussions were had about their perfidy (in inviting the French into the clusterfuck that was Italy at the time) versus the sheer seething mess in general. Honestly, this book gave excellent incidental context for why Machiavelli might have written The Prince, because Jesus everloving fuck, guys, can you just try? Just a little? Yikes.
Anyway, this sometimes felt a little overly starry-eyed or even hagiographic about Caterina, who was surely a lady who lived hard and boldly and sometimes not with her best reasoning, but who was also surely a fascinating figure, both at the time and now.
I also, amusingly, ran into my husband's Guicciardini-inspired dislike of the Sforzas, and many discussions were had about their perfidy (in inviting the French into the clusterfuck that was Italy at the time) versus the sheer seething mess in general. Honestly, this book gave excellent incidental context for why Machiavelli might have written The Prince, because Jesus everloving fuck, guys, can you just try? Just a little? Yikes.
Anyway, this sometimes felt a little overly starry-eyed or even hagiographic about Caterina, who was surely a lady who lived hard and boldly and sometimes not with her best reasoning, but who was also surely a fascinating figure, both at the time and now.
geoffsegal67's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
5.0