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  • Published: 22 September 2010
  • ISBN: 9780141958255
  • Imprint: Penguin eBooks
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 144

The State as a Work of Art



'The most elevated political thought and the most varied forms of human development are found united in the history of Florence'

Pioneering art historian Jacob Burckhardt saw the Italian Renaissance as no less than the beginning of the modern world. In this hugely influential work he argues that the Renaissance's creativity, competitiveness, dynasties, great city-states and even its vicious rulers sowed the seeds of a new era.

GREAT IDEAS. Throughout history, some books have changed the world. They have transformed the way we see ourselves - and each other. They have inspired debate, dissent, war and revolution. They have enlightened, outraged, provoked and comforted. They have enriched lives - and destroyed them. Now Penguin brings you the works of the great thinkers, pioneers, radicals and visionaries whose ideas shook civilization and helped make us who we are.

  • Published: 22 September 2010
  • ISBN: 9780141958255
  • Imprint: Penguin eBooks
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 144

About the author

Jacob Burckhardt

Peter Gay is Sterling Professor Emeritus of History at Yale University and director of the Center for Scholars and Writers at the New York Public Library. His many books include the three-volume The Enlightenment: An Interpretation; Schnitzler’s Century: The Making of Middle-Class Culture, 1815–1914; and Freud: A Life for Our Time.

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