Dr. Lisa Kaborycha's A Short History of Renaissance Italy is based on a thorough knowledge of current literature and the controversies among scholars over the interpretation of this epoch. She analyzes the tension between continuity and change in these centuries, from the ravages of the Black Death in the 1340s, to the revival in the fifteenth century, and the dramatic consequences of the foreign invasions after 1494. The author integrates every significant feature of this era, from climate and geography to politics, the economy, and religion and culture. This book is an exemplary narrative and analysis of a major chapter in the history of Western Civilization.---Gene A. Brucker, Author of Renaissance Florence --Book Jacket.