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The Swerve

How the Renaissance Began
By Stephen Greenblatt
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Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
The Swerve by Stephen Greenblatt explores the rediscovery of an ancient Roman poem, which played a pivotal role in sparking the intellectual shift known as the Renaissance. The book delves into the poem's journey from obscurity to fame, illuminating how it helped transform our understanding of philosophy, art, and the nature of human thought. Through captivating historical narratives, it highlights how a single manuscript can influence the course of history.
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Format: Paperback / softback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This book might appeal to you if you're fascinated by how ancient texts can influence the modern world, particularly how the rediscovery of a 2,000-year-old poem played a pivotal role in igniting the Renaissance. It offers a compelling blend of history, biography, and intellectual adventure, shedding light on how powerful ideas can transform societies.

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The Swerve

WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION 2012

Almost six hundred years ago, a short, genial man took a very old manuscript off a library shelf.

A riveting, exemplary tale of the great cultural "swerve" known as the Renaissance

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

A riveting, exemplary tale of the great cultural "swerve" known as the Renaissance.

WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION 2012

Almost six hundred years ago, a short, genial man took a very old manuscript off a library shelf. With excitement, he saw what he had discovered and ordered it copied. The book was a miraculously surviving copy of an ancient Roman philosophical epic, On the Nature of Things by Lucretius, and it changed the course of history.

He found a beautiful poem of the most dangerous ideas - that the universe functioned without the aid of gods, that religious fear was damaging to human life, and that matter was made up of very small particles in eternal motion. These ideas fuelled the Renaissance, inspiring Botticelli, shaping the thoughts of Montaigne, Darwin and Einstein.

An innovative work of history by one of the world's most celebrated scholars and a thrilling story of discovery, The Swerve details how one manuscript, plucked from a thousand years of neglect, made possible the world as we know it.

Winner of the 2011 National Book Award for Nonfiction

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

The Swerve by Stephen Greenblatt is praised for being superbly readable and exciting, with reviews highlighting its clarity and verve. The book is celebrated as a superb piece of history with a concise and fluent narrative, recognized for telling a remarkable story. It is described as dazzling and an outstanding assessment of the birth of philosophical modernity, transporting readers to the dawn of the Renaissance. The book is also noted for its wonderfully illuminating take on Renaissance history from a master historian.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780099572442

Publisher: Vintage Publishing

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 06 September 2012

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Vintage

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 22.0mm

Width: 129.0mm

Height: 198.0mm

Weight: 267g

Pages: 368

Collections

Education & Reference European History History & Military Non-Fiction Penguin Books Stephen Greenblatt

About the Author

Stephen Greenblatt is Cogan University Professor of the Humanities at Harvard University. He is the author of twelve books, including The Swerve- How the World Became Modern, which won the National Book Award and a Pulitzer Prize, as well as the New York Times bestseller Will in the World- How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare and the classic university text Renaissance Self-Fashioning. He is General Editor of The Norton Anthology of English Literature and of The Norton Shakespeare, and has edited seven collections of literary criticism.

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