The Renaissance is one of the most studied and celebrated periods in history. Beginning at the end of the Middle Ages and extending to the dawn of modernity, it has become a symbol of transformative renewal in knowledge, art, culture, and political thought in Europe. For the past two hundred years, historians have sought to describe what makes this famous golden age unique.

In "Faking the Renaissance," renowned historian Ada Palmer offers a new perspective on what makes this era so captivating. Her witty and rebellious journey through the fantasies constructed by historians about the period highlights how the myth largely stems from the mythologizing of subsequent centuries rather than the often grim reality of the period itself. She examines key figures and movements: the enduring legacy of Niccolò Machiavelli, the rediscovery of classical texts, the rise of the Medici family and the fall of the Borgias, the astonishing artistic achievements of Michelangelo, Leonardo, and Cellini, the influence of the Inquisition, and the expansion of secular humanism.

Palmer also explores the relationship between culture and money: books, for example, could cost as much as large houses, so innovators of the period could only thrive with the support of the ultra-rich. She provides fifteen provocative and entertaining portraits of Renaissance men and women, some famous, some unknown, whose intertwined lives reveal that the real Renaissance was more unpredictable, more international, and, above all, more desperate than its golden reputation suggests.

Based on her popular blogs and writing with her characteristic energy and wit, Palmer presents the Renaissance as we've never seen it before. Humorous, clever, and brilliant, you wouldn't expect a work of deep scholarly knowledge to make you alternately laugh and cry.