WHILST on the face of it, this is a biography of one of the world's most significant historical families, Strathern's account of 400 years of the Medici family ends up in turn charting the course of European history through the various branches of Florence's most illustrious family.
The story of this family, deeply rooted in banking and commerce, meanders from the medieval era right through to the middle of the 18th century, drawing in characters and events from England to the Balkans and emphasises unapologetically the influence wielded by the Medici clan across the old world in matters of trade, politics, war, religion, science and of course of art. This was the family which… Read more
A small group of overly-ambitious and self-regulating traders pool together in a cramped room, electric with frenetic energy. These men begin the process of buying and selling increasingly complicated instruments about which very few of them possess any degree of knowledge. Ordinary citizens, wowed and fascinated by the astronomical profits being made by these traders, begin to deal on their own account. Intangible assets become more valuable than bricks-and-mortar and the majority of the population remain absolutely perplexed by what exactly is being traded. This is not Wall Street. This is Haarlem. And the trade does not centre on CDOs, CFDs and ETFs; rather the focus of traders'… Read more
INSPIRATION. It does not come from reading a Wikipedia page about a destination, nor is it stirred up by reading page after page of text without photographs or drawings. Insight Guides are both practical and emotional, serving up information and inspiration in equal measure.
For all the good the internet does, it can be an incredibly daunting resource for someone researching a holiday to an unfamiliar location. Wikipedia, TripAdvisor and the tourist board will all offer up useful information but there is no amalgamation, no united purpose. It's all a little bit here and there.
For me, guidebooks are an essential port of call. They give you the… Read more
