Alexander Lee

A comprehensive exploration of Machiavelli’s life and thought – covering everything from his preoccupation with truth, fortune, and power, to his frequently bawdy poetry, love affairs, and friendships. Essential reading for anyone who wants to understand what Machiavelli really believed – and why he matters so much today. Who was Niccolo Machiavelli and why should we consider him relevant to the problems and vexations of the modern world? Stephen Bowd and Alexander Lee aim to ‘defamiliarize’ Machiavelli. Given that he is so well known, if only by name, and the subject of such grave misconceptions and prejudice, the authors set out to explain why he is not the ‘Machiavellian’ figure he is supposed to be, and that he was not just a political thinker. Examining his frequently bawdy poetry, his comedies and his love affairs and friendships, this book will lead modern readers on an exhilarating and thought-provoking journey through Machiavelli’s mind, bringing him to life and illuminating why such a seminal thinker should be of urgent interest to us today.

A sweeping, riveting history of the Venetian Ghetto, the world’s first Jewish ghetto. 'Brilliantly researched and deeply moving' - Roger Crowley, author of City of Fortune'Alexander Lee combines expertise in Venetian history, with sensibility to the Jewish past, and a gift for story-telling. Highly recommended' - Professor Miri Rubin, author of Cities of StrangersIn the early sixteenth century, amidst the ruins of war, and in an atmosphere of religious hatred, the world’s first Jewish ‘ghetto’ was established in Venice. Constrained in cramped, often insanitary conditions, the Jews who were forced to live there were extorted, abused and subjected to countless humiliating restrictions. Before long, Venice’s Ghetto became the prototype for ghettos throughout Europe, paving the way for a more vicious and enduring form of antisemitism. Yet the Ghetto’s story is also a testament of hope. Despite all they faced through the centuries, its residents thrived, creating a flourishing literary, musical and religious community. They sustained Venice’s economy – and, as more migrants arrived, the Ghetto became a microcosm of the Jewish world. Historian Alexander Lee traces this vivid story from the first Jewish arrivals in the early fourteenth century to the present day, reconstructing the Ghetto through the eyes of its inhabitants – from the domestic squabbles of a sixteenth-century rabbi to the agonising wait of a family bound for Auschwitz. Authoritative, detailed and incomparably intimate, The First Ghetto offers a fitting monument to the Ghetto’s past – and powerful lessons for the future.

'A wonderfully assured and utterly riveting biography that captures not only the much-maligned Machiavelli, but also the spirit of his time and place. A monumental achievement.' - Jessie Childs, author of God's Traitors. 'A notorious fiend', 'generally odious', 'he seems hideous, and so he is.' Thanks to the invidious reputation of his most famous work, The Prince, Niccolo Machiavelli exerts a unique hold over the popular imagination. But was Machiavelli as sinister as he is often thought to be? Might he not have been an infinitely more sympathetic figure, prone to political missteps, professional failures and personal dramas? Alexander Lee reveals the man behind the myth, following him from cradle to grave, from his father's penury and the abuse he suffered at a teacher's hands, to his marriage and his many affairs (with both men and women), to his political triumphs and, ultimately, his fall from grace and exile. In doing so, Lee uncovers hitherto unobserved connections between Machiavelli's life and thought. He also reveals the world through which Machiavelli moved: from the great halls of Renaissance Florence to the court of the Borgia pope, Alexander VI, from the dungeons of the Stinche prison to the Rucellai gardens, where he would begin work on some of his last great works. As much a portrait of an age as of a uniquely engaging man, Lee's gripping and definitive biography takes the reader into Machiavelli's world - and his work - more completely than ever before.

Thanks to the invidious reputation of his most famous work, The Prince, Niccolo` Machiavelli exerts a unique hold over the popular imagination. But was Machiavelli as sinister as he is often thought to be? Might he not have been an infinitely more sympathetic figure, prone to political missteps, professional failures and personal dramas? In Machiavelli: His Life and Times, Alexander Lee reveals the man behind the myth, following him from cradle to grave, from his father’s penury and the abuse he suffered at a teacher’s hands, to his marriage and his many affairs (with both men and women), to his political triumphs and, ultimately, his fall from grace and exile.