I enjoyed learning about such figures as Erasmus, Luther, the Medici's, and Thomas More. Thomas Cahill's irreverent take on these various figures made for an entertaining read. However, his political rantings knocked a few stars off of the book. I will read his other works (now forewarned of his political stance) but it is disappointing that he allowed his own political views to appear throughout the work. The art reviews are wonderful, but Mr. Cahill lets his modern prejudices get the upper hand when he moves from the Renaissance to the Reformation. I sincerely wish he had included the musical geniuses and curtailed his discussions of the religious figures, not because I longed for a secular emphasis, but because I tired of the bias he mistakenly thought might be interesting and enlightening to his readers. In a nutshell, I'll keep reading the Hinges of History and hope he leaves his brand of curmudgeonhood at home.
As with the other books in his Hinges of History series, this is an excellent book.
—DemiMalvadona
read this book and any other books by Cahill that you can find
—VisAngel
Another masterful work of synthesis from Thomas Cahill.
—bharat
Interesting telling of history
—Blastey
Enjoyable, but unfocused.
—kvflores