Author:Sarah Bradford
Sarah Bradford's Lucrezia Bogia: Life, Love and Death in Renaissance Italy is the first biography of Lucrezia Borgia for over sixty years
.Lucrezia Borgia - an infamous murderess or simply the victim of bad press? Lucrezia Borgia's name has echoed through history as a byword for evil - a poisoner who committed incest with her natural father, Pope Alexander VI, and with her brother, Cesare Borgia. Long considered the most ruthless of Italian Renaissance noblewomen, her tarnished reputation has prevailed long since her own lifetime. In this definitive biography, a work of huge scholarship and erudition, Sarah Bradford gives a fascinating account of Lucrezia's life in all its colourful controversy. Daughter, sister, wife and mother, Lucrezia Borgia was surrounded by wealth, privilege and intrigue. But what was the truth behind her extraordinary existence - was she a monster of cruelty and deceit, or simply the pawn of her power-hungry father and brother?
'Sarah Bradford writes with cool authority and her research in Italian archives is exemplary. No other biography is likely to bring us closer to Lucrezia' Spectator
'Bradford's forte, ever since she was a history-mad girl, is thinking herself into other lives' Daily Telegraph
Sarah Bradford is a historian and biographer. Her books include Cesare Borgia (1976), Disraeli (1982), winner of the New York Times Book of the Year, Princess Grace (1984), Sacherevell Sitwell (1993), Elizabeth: A Biography of Her Majesty the Queen (1996), America's Queen: The Life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (2000), Lucrezia Borgia (2005) and Diana (2007). She frequently appears on television as an authority on her biographical subjects and as a commentator on notable royal events. She is currently working on a full scale biography of Queen Victoria. She lives in London.
This is much more than history; it is a tapestry of inspiration and love
—— The GuardianOne cannot but marvel at Ackroyd's erudition, his energy in marshallin g minutiae, his ear for quotation, his flair for dazzling juxtapositions, his vibrant imagination and sheer exuberance
—— The TimesAckroyd covers not only literature but art, architecture, music and almost everything else that has passed through the minds of the English...just one damn interesting thing after another
—— Sunday TimesThis magisterial work... An unrivaled account of how the Nazi leadership ended up with a policy of industrialized mass murder of Jews - Probably no one is better qualified for this task than Christopher Browning.
—— Mark Mazower, New York TimesBrowning is persuasive because he marshals his evidence with unrivalled skill and writes with awesome clarity.
—— Literary ReviewTo seek an answer to "why", we have first to grasp "how" and pick our way down the track which leads...from "Expel to Exploit to Exterminate". On that journey, this book is the best guide.
—— ObserverA winning combination of forensic precision with the historian's skill of telling a story clearly and powerfully... A demonstration of what good history is about
—— Evening Standard