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The Renaissance
- A History of Civilization in Italy from 1304 - 1576 AD, The Story of Civilization, Volume 5
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 37 hrs and 9 mins
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Publisher's summary
An engrossing volume on the Italian Renaissance by Pulitzer Prize - winning historian Will Durant
The fifth volume of Durant's acclaimed Story of Civilization,The Renaissance chronicles the history of Italy from1304 to 1576. In this masterful work, listeners will encounter
- the poets Petrarch and Boccaccio, the fathers ofthe Renaissance;
- the paintings, sculptures, and architecture ofMilan, Florence, and Venice;
- the life and accomplishments of Leonardo DaVinci;
- the Catholic church and the popes of Avignon and Rome;
- the politicians and philosophers of Italy,including the Borgia family, Julius II, and Machiavelli;
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Heroes of History
- By: Will Durant
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 12 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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At Will Durant's death at 96, in 1981, his personal papers were dispersed among relatives, collectors, and archive houses. Twenty years later, scholar John Little discovered the previously unknown manuscript of Heroes of History in Durant's granddaughter's garage. Written shortly before he died, these 21 essays serve as an abbreviated version of Durant's best-selling, 11-volume series, The Story of Civilization.
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Nice overview
- By Richard on 11-10-04
By: Will Durant
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Renaissance: The Transformation of the West
- By: Jennifer McNabb, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Jennifer McNabb
- Length: 26 hrs and 35 mins
- Original Recording
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While it’s easy to get caught up - and, rightfully so - in the art of the Renaissance, you cannot have a full, rounded understanding of just how important these centuries were without digging beneath the surface, without investigating the period in terms of its politics, its spirituality, its philosophies, its economics, and its societies. Do just that with these 48 lectures that consider the European Renaissance from all sides, that disturb traditional understandings, that tip sacred cows, and that enlarges our understanding of how the Renaissance revolutionized the Western world.
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Reads like a bad high school essay.
- By Matthew Dennis on 10-29-18
By: Jennifer McNabb, and others
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Our Oriental Heritage
- The Story of Civilization, Volume 1
- By: Will Durant
- Narrated by: Robin Field
- Length: 50 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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The first volume of Will Durant's Pulitzer Prize-winning series, Our Oriental Heritage: The Story of Civilization, Volume I chronicles the early history of Egypt, the Middle East, and Asia.
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Wonderful
- By Michael on 11-30-13
By: Will Durant
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The Greatest Minds and Ideas of All Time
- By: Will Durant
- Narrated by: John Little
- Length: 3 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Best-selling historian and philosopher Will Durant devoted his entire life to studying the most significant eras, individuals, and achievements of human history. Here is a summation of Durant's work, as he presents the best of world history. Filled with Durant's renowned wit, knowledge, and unique ability to explain events in simple and exciting terms, it is a concise liberal arts education.
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Puzzled
- By James on 04-06-04
By: Will Durant
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The Italians before Italy: Conflict and Competition in the Mediterranean
- By: Kenneth R. Bartlett, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Kenneth R. Bartlett
- Length: 12 hrs and 8 mins
- Original Recording
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Take a riveting tour of the Italian peninsula, from the glittering canals of Venice to the lavish papal apartments and ancient ruins of Rome. In these 24 lectures, Professor Bartlett traces the development of the Italian city-states of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, showing how the modern nation of Italy was forged out of the rivalries, allegiances, and traditions of a vibrant and diverse people.
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A useful survey, just what I wanted
- By Adeliese Baumann on 11-07-16
By: Kenneth R. Bartlett, and others
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The Story of Philosophy
- The Lives and Opinions of the Greater Philosophers
- By: Will Durant
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 19 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Durant lucidly describes the philosophical systems of such world-famous “monarchs of the mind” as Plato, Aristotle, Francis Bacon, Spinoza, Kant, Voltaire, and Nietzsche. Along with their ideas, he offers their flesh-and-blood biographies, placing their thoughts within their own time and place and elucidating their influence on our modern intellectual heritage. This book is packed with wisdom and wit.
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Fantastic and insightful book
- By ESK on 01-25-13
By: Will Durant
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Heroes of History
- By: Will Durant
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 12 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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At Will Durant's death at 96, in 1981, his personal papers were dispersed among relatives, collectors, and archive houses. Twenty years later, scholar John Little discovered the previously unknown manuscript of Heroes of History in Durant's granddaughter's garage. Written shortly before he died, these 21 essays serve as an abbreviated version of Durant's best-selling, 11-volume series, The Story of Civilization.
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Nice overview
- By Richard on 11-10-04
By: Will Durant
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Renaissance: The Transformation of the West
- By: Jennifer McNabb, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Jennifer McNabb
- Length: 26 hrs and 35 mins
- Original Recording
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Story
While it’s easy to get caught up - and, rightfully so - in the art of the Renaissance, you cannot have a full, rounded understanding of just how important these centuries were without digging beneath the surface, without investigating the period in terms of its politics, its spirituality, its philosophies, its economics, and its societies. Do just that with these 48 lectures that consider the European Renaissance from all sides, that disturb traditional understandings, that tip sacred cows, and that enlarges our understanding of how the Renaissance revolutionized the Western world.
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Reads like a bad high school essay.
- By Matthew Dennis on 10-29-18
By: Jennifer McNabb, and others
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The Story of Civilization, Volume I: The Ancient World
- By: Phillip Campbell
- Narrated by: Kevin Gallagher
- Length: 8 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Children should not just hear about history, they should live it. In The Story of Civilization, the ancient stories that have shaped humanity come alive like never before. Author Phillip Campbell uses his historical expertise and story-telling ability together in tandem to present the content in a fresh and thrilling way.
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A brilliant panorama of the ancient world
- By Palisade on 03-20-19
By: Phillip Campbell
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The Lessons of History
- By: Will, Ariel Durant
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 5 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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The authors devoted five decades to the study of world history and philosophy, culminating in the masterful 11-volume Story of Civilization. In this compact summation of their work, Will and Ariel Durant share the vital and profound lessons of our collective past. Their perspective, gained after a lifetime of thinking and writing about the history of humankind, is an invaluable resource for us today.
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This is a must for every Educated Person
- By BradleyBurr on 10-29-07
By: Will, and others
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The Family Medici
- The Hidden History of the Medici Dynasty
- By: Mary Hollingsworth
- Narrated by: Anne Flosnik
- Length: 12 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Having founded the bank that became the most powerful in Europe in the 15th century, the Medici gained massive political power in Florence, raising the city to a peak of cultural achievement and becoming its hereditary dukes. Mary Hollingsworth argues that the idea that the Medici were enlightened rulers of the Renaissance is a fiction that has now acquired the status of historical fact. In truth, the Medici were as devious and immoral as the Borgias - tyrants loathed in the city they illegally made their own.
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Good story, bad narrator.
- By EC on 01-07-19
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History of the World, Updated
- By: J.M. Roberts
- Narrated by: Frederick Davidson
- Length: 54 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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In the History of the World, Updated, J. M. Roberts has revised his monumental previous work, History of the World, taking into account the great range of discoveries that have altered our views on everything from early civilizations to post-Cold War globalism. Large portions of text have been rewritten, addressing events as recent as the relationship between the Arab and Western worlds in the wake of the September 11 attacks.
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Comprehensive world history
- By Alan Rither on 03-31-07
By: J.M. Roberts
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Petrarch’s Canzoniere
- Scattered Rhymes, a New Verse Translation
- By: Francesco Petrarch
- Narrated by: Ed Ashley
- Length: 7 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Francesco Petrarch’s Canzoniere (translated in English as ‘Scattered Rhymes’) is a collection of 14th century poems famed for their exploration of love, grief, spirituality and nature. Peter Thornton's accessible new translation brings Petrarch to the 21st century in direct, rhymed, English verse - for academics and poetry enthusiasts alike.
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A History of Greece
- To the Death of Alexander the Great
- By: John Bagnell Bury
- Narrated by: Charlton Griffin
- Length: 40 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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At the time of his death in 1927, John Bagnell Bury was easily the most honored English historian of his era. Bury, an esteemed Cambridge scholar, wrote what is considered the finest one-volume history of ancient Greece in the English language. His beautifully crafted survey of Greek civilization begins with the description of Bronze Age settlements which appeared on the Greek mainland and on the island of Crete. The story takes us on a strange and exciting series of adventures which result in the development of independent city-states constantly embroiled in division and war.
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The Enlightenment
- The Pursuit of Happiness, 1680-1790
- By: Ritchie Robertson
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
- Length: 40 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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This magisterial history - sure to become the definitive work on the subject - recasts the Enlightenment as a period not solely consumed with rationale and reason, but rather as a pursuit of practical means to achieve greater human happiness.
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The quickest 40 hour audio book I’ve listen to
- By Joey Caster on 04-02-21
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Kant to John Dewey
- The Story of Philosophy, Part 2
- By: Will Durant
- Narrated by: Deaver Brown
- Length: 12 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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The best support, history, and analysis on the story of philosophy. Particularly appropriate for the non-academic who is better served by the audiobook with extensive references.
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seriously with the sleepy elevator music
- By Eric Olsen on 06-06-22
By: Will Durant
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The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy
- By: Jacob Burckhardt
- Narrated by: Geoffrey Howard
- Length: 14 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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In this landmark study of Italy from the 14th through the early 16th centuries, Swiss historian Jacob Burckhardt chronicles the rise of Florence and Venice as powerful city-states, the breakup of the medieval worldview that came with the rediscovery of Greek and Roman culture, and the new emphasis on the role of the individual. All these, Burckhardt explains, went hand in hand with the explorations of science and the more naturalistic depiction of the world in art and literature.
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A nest as beautiful as the bird(s) it bore
- By Darwin8u on 07-12-14
By: Jacob Burckhardt
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The History of the Ancient World
- From the Earliest Accounts to the Fall of Rome
- By: Susan Wise Bauer
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 26 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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This is the first volume in a bold new series that tells the stories of all peoples, connecting historical events from Europe to the Middle East to the far coast of China, while still giving weight to the characteristics of each country. Susan Wise Bauer provides both sweeping scope and vivid attention to the individual lives that give flesh to abstract assertions about human history. This narrative history employs the methods of "history from beneath" - literature, epic traditions, private letters, and accounts - to connect kings and leaders with the lives of those they ruled.
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An Historic Achievement
- By Ellen S. Wilds on 04-25-14
By: Susan Wise Bauer
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Fallen Leaves
- Last Words on Life, Love, War & God
- By: Will Durant
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 5 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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The final and most personal work from Pulitzer Prize - winning author and historian Will Durant - discovered 32 years after his death - is a message of insight for everyone who has sought meaning in life or the council of a wise friend in navigating life's journey. From 1968 to 1978, Will Durant made four public allusions to the existence of Fallen Leaves. One, in 1975, hinted at its contents: "a not very serious book that answers the questions of what I think about government, life, death, and God."
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Old Man’s Book
- By Michael on 12-19-15
By: Will Durant
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The House of Medici
- Its Rise and Fall
- By: Christopher Hibbert
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 11 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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This enthralling book charts the family's huge influence on the political, economic, and cultural history of Florence. Beginning in the early 1430s with the rise of the dynasty under the near-legendary Cosimo de Medici, it moves through their golden era as patrons of some of the most remarkable artists and architects of the Renaissance, to the era of the Medici Popes and Grand Dukes, Florence's slide into decay and bankruptcy, and the end, in 1737, of the Medici line.
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Laundry list of names
- By Elizabeth W on 01-02-17
What listeners say about The Renaissance
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Kevin Crumpton
- 01-23-16
Worth every minute
I bought this book before my 3rd trip to Italy. I honestly thought I'd only listen to some of it. I listened to the entire 35 hours and learned more than I've learned from any book since college. I listened to many chapters twice so I could retain the information or synthesize what I was learning with what I already knew. The reader is excellent and the writing is thoughtful, analytical but also surprisingly entertaining. Anyone who loves history and wants to get a grand overview of this remarkable time in history should read this book.
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17 people found this helpful
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- MIchael S. Radeos
- 06-05-18
Fascinating Journey through the Renaissance
I’m so happy to have found Will Durant’s series on the history of civilization. This volume recounts the events of the Renaiissance from Leonardo to Michelangelo and the transformation of Europe through the 14th to 16th Centuries. This aeries turns my commutes into a virtual lecture hall. Thanks, Audible!
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- Mike Stacey
- 01-23-23
Another perfect classic
The best so far in the series. Durant puts together another literary masterpiece. He and Ariel are among the titans of civilization that he writes about. Volume 5 is a work of art like the statue of David, the Mona lisa, the school of Athens.
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- Bryan
- 02-25-23
Great addition to the series
I did not expect much from this volume which made this one extra special. There is so much here that touches the soul and informs what it means to be human, chiefly, with the development of humanism, contrasted against some of the most vicious and dark periods in human history. The people that are covered are magnificent, the political and spiritual battles fought in the hearts and minds and hands of the people are on par with ancient Greece and ancient Rome. The context for the national union of the Italian kingdoms into an Italian state is heartbreaking. During the period of the Renaissance, civilization was being built anew. Notable achievements covered are the formation of modern European culture, religion, decency, etiquette, art, science, and medicine.
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- michael elliott
- 06-04-17
Superlative work
This is an astonishing work. Wil Durant delivers the Renaissance in satisfying and surprising depth, breadth. I learned so much listening to this book. Kudos to the author, his team and the reader.
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- michael
- 04-16-17
A Gem Filled with Detail but Dated!
Will Durant, the man who put Simon & Schuster on the map, delivers the most researched account of the Renaissance I've read. He dives into the details of the famous tales of the time with facts and background I've never heard.
The down side was Durant's unobjective treatment of homosexuality that prevailed the 14th and 15th centuries in Italy. He is also the harshest art critic I've ever heard (which was refreshing).
He didn't stumble over himself with fawning praise of the giants like Michelangelo. In fact, the author pointed out imperfections in the "perfect" Pieta and David works.
But, please, did his editors not catch his use of "Michael" and "Angelo" when referring to Michelangelo? The man's name is Michelangelo Buonarroti! Not Michael Angelo. Urgh!!!
Overall a great book!
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- Richard McKown
- 10-17-23
I’m in Italy now and am really glad I listened to this it has enhanced my trip considerably.
I’m in Italy now and am really glad I listened to this, it has enhanced my trip considerably.
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- Andrew
- 01-28-18
Fantastic!
I am amazed at the amount of information Will Durant beautifully transmits in this volume. Nearly three centuries of Italian history is wonderfully described with the transformation of art through painting and sculpture, almost always requested by the heads of the Roman Catholic church! And the political masterminding of this era is amazing. Grover Gardner did a wonderful job with this narration, speaking in other languages (and reciting interpretations as the book gives), with amazing clarity. I can't wait to read his next narrative in this volume!
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- Dan Greene
- 01-07-20
Grover Gardner narrates beautifully
The Story Of Civilization is a wonderful work by the Durants and Grover Gardner's reading of it is an achievement. I only wish Audible would work to get the rest of the volumes with his narration as well. currently Audible only has a bout four of the volumes narrated by him while the others are done by readers much less suited to the majesty of the work.
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- Kindle Customer
- 10-14-22
A lively, art-centric, look at all things Italian.
A lively, art-centric, look at all things Italian.
Durant's mammoth "Story of Civilization" series continues with the fifth volume "The Renaissance." The title is a bit of a misnomer insofar as it ONLY covers the Italian Renaissance from the early 14th-16th centuries. The sixth volume "The Reformation" covers the rest of Europe. That being said, this is very enjoyable, detailed, and empassioned look at one of the most dynamic and productive eras and areas in human history.
Durant's approach of synthesizing everything into a single "story of civilization" remains as compelling as ever and is mostly a function of Durant's skills as a writer. As such, we get detailed survey histories of Renaissance Florence, Venice, Milan, Naples et al filled with energetic prose that is both insightful and often amusing/snide. Because this is the Renaissance, art plays a major role in the narrative and Durant's best and most vivid writing is about the artistic accomplishments of the age. Be it Michaelangelo, Raphael, or da Vinci -- Durant's lens is focused the most sharply on the sublime and reflects his most passionate writing.
For a reader not immediately familiar with the pieces Durant is discussing, this flowery language sometimes feels overwrought and a bit like listening to a wine aficionado describing all the tasting notes in a particular vintage. The reader feels like Thomas Hayden Church's character in the film "Sideways" listening to Paul Giamatti's character wax poetic about a glass of wine to which Church's character, not having a clue, responds with: "Wow. Strawberries, yeah! Strawberries. Not the cheese..." -- I'll take Durant's word for it most of the time.
While Durant's approach requires him to talk about everything, it's clear he has the least interest in the martial or even political. Durant has little interest in marching armies or political backbiting (even though Machiavelli gets a well executed extended look) and his writing is the least interesting when Durant has to wallow in the mud of warfare. Otherwise, "The Renaissance" has Popes and anti-popes and Medicis and Borgias come and go throughout the narrative and through it all, the conflict between the classical paganism that the Renaissance reignited and the Catholic divine these new styles and approaches were meant to glorify remains a consistent theme.
Observant, witty, and thoroughly enjoyable. "...[but] not the cheese."
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