The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy. An Essay

Burckhardt’s Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy has achieved its now classic status because of the importance of its theses and its readability as a narrative. Burckhardt’s argues that the Italian Renaissance was the birth of both modernity and of the individual as we know it. These are strong claims, which have now become accepted by many historians. Burckhardt fostered the impression that the Middle Ages was a time of intellectual stagnation (he even uses the term “childish” for the Middle Ages), and the renaissance the rebirth, not just of classical civilization, but of human progress as well. Embossed spine and front cover with numerous Illustrations and index in a green cloth slipcase.