Amazon.com description: Product Description: The Renaissance holds an undying place in the human imagination and its great heroes remain our own. This period of profound evolution in European thought transformed the West from medieval to modern and produced the most astonishing outpouring of artistic creation the world has ever known. Perhaps no era has been more revolutionary or more romanticized. But what was the Renaissance? In this compact book, Paul Johnson tackles that question with the towering erudition that is his trademark. He begins by painting the economic, technological and social background before focusing on the individuals who made the era so memorable. Finally, he examines the spread and decline of the Renaissance and its abiding legacy.

"...a vibrant summary of the era's eruption of art." (Booklist)