Palace of Wisdom

By Bob Marshall-Andrews and Helmut W. Pesch

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0525248102
• ISBN13: 9780525248101
• Release Date: January 1990
• Publisher: Dutton
• Weight: 1.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.1" x 0.1" x 0.1"

Customer Reviews

Brilliant, disturbing, and somehow timely

This novel of 17th century Florence and its Jesuit/Medici inquisition fantastically skewers the concept of autocratic government and, at the same time, lets some of the wind out of our present-day despots. The theme of book burnings is dealt with particularly well, the stupidity of those who would censor and eliminate knowledge and ideas being magnified to outrageous, yet believable, extremes. The inquisitors here are the very same grade-school bullies who tormented many of us in our youths, but here they acknowledge no limits, and possess even less conscience. So they are frightening. In Palace of Wisdom they are variously portrayed as malevolent buffoons, predictable yet savage, or as razor-sharp maleficents who know precisely the destruction they seek. The protagonists, on the other hand, are the marginalised and the grotesques of society. A striking contrast.Definitely a worthy read. Well-crafted and evocative, describing the chill waning of intellectual freedom in Renaissance Italy.

Fantasic debut

I throughly enjoyed this novel. The concept of a struggle to preserve hardwon wisdom in the face of tyranny as portraited by Marshall-Andrews is especially appealing. A riveting read, one can really get a sense of Italy at this time in history.