Siege of Florence (1529-30) and the end of the 'Italian Freedom'

The resistance of the Florentine Republic has entered in the myth, becoming the paradigm of the Italians' struggle against the foreign domination. The Risorgimento rhetoric immediately took over this event, rewriting it for anti-Habsburgs propaganda, effectively erasing the responsibilities and weaknesses of the Italian ruling dynasties of that age. The fall of the 'New Athens' left a legacy with great consequences, and possibly, it is not a coincidence that after 1530, a new phase of Italian and European history began, with other protagonists and a new political season. For the first time, a complete account of the siege after sources from the archives of the ancient Italian states, is published in English, with analysis and descriptions of equipment and ensigns of the two sides. 80 b/w illustrations, 20 b/w photos, 36 colour illustrations, 15 figures, 2 graphs