Books

Ghetto: A Venetian History (London: Picador, forthcoming).

with S. Bowd, Why Machiavelli Matters (London: Bloomsbury, forthcoming 2025)

ed. with B. Maxson, The Culture and Politics of Regime Change in Italy, c.1494-c.1559 (Abingdon: Routledge, 2022).

Machiavelli: His Life and TimesLink opens in a new window (London: Picador, 2020).

Translations: Chinese (forthcoming).
Accolades: Financial Times ‘History Book of the Year 2020’; New Statesman 'History Book of the Year 2020'

Humanism and Empire: The Imperial Ideal in Fourteenth-Century ItalyLink opens in a new window (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018).

ed. with M. Pauly, Libertés et citoyenneté urbaines du moyen âge à nos jours, Beiträge zur Landes- und Kulturgeschichte 9 (Trier and Luxembourg: CLUDEM, 2015).

The Ugly RenaissanceLink opens in a new window (London: Hutchinson, 2013).

Editions: UK paperback (Arrow) 2014; US hardback (Doubleday) 2014; US paperback (Vintage) 2015.
Translations: Russian (2016); Italian (2016); Complex Chinese (2018); Simplified Chinese (2022).
Accolades: Times Literary Supplement ‘History Book of the Year 2013’

Petrarch and St. Augustine: Classical Scholarship, Christian Theology, and the Origins of the Renaissance in ItalyLink opens in a new window (Leiden: Brill, 2012).

ed. with P. Péporté and H. Schnitker, Renaissance? Perceptions of Continuity and DiscontinuityLink opens in a new window in Europe, c.1300-c.1550 (Leiden: Brill, 2010).

with T.R.Stanley, The End of Politics: Triangulation, Realignment and the Battle for the Centre Ground (London: Politico’s, 2006).

Articles and Papers

‘Early Italian Humanism’, in S. Sutherland, ed., Routledge Encyclopaedia of the Renaissance World (Abingdon: Routledge, forthcoming).  

‘La maison de Luxembourg et les républiques italiennes selon les humanistes : un chapitre oublié dans l’histoire de la liberté’, in E. Adde, M. Margue, et A.-K. Kunde, eds., Les Luxembourg : projet dynastique et construction de la domination entre perspectives globales et locales (Vienne, Cologne et Weimar : Böhlau - Regesta Imperii, forthcoming).

‘Machiavelli and the Puzzle of the Prince’, in K. Almqvist, Alastair Benn, and M. Hessérus, ed.., Leadership and Statecraft: Studies in Power (Stockholm: Bokförlaget Stolpe, 2024), 13-20.

‘Venise, 1516: naissance du Ghetto’, in J. Le Mauff and R. Sénac, ed., Politique de l’exclusion, La Vie des Idées (Paris : Presses Universitaires de France, 2024), 29-42.

‘Machiavelli and the Florentine Book Trade’, Bulletin of the John Rylands Library, 99/2 (2023): 87-102.

‘Liberty and the ‘myth’ of Venice’, in K. Almqvist, Alastair Benn, and M. Hessérus, ed., Liberty: The Evolution of an Idea (Stockholm: Bokförlaget Stolpe, 2023), 41-50.

‘Coluccio Salutati and Charles IV of Luxembourg (1369-1378)’, in M. P. Alberzoni, D. Rando, and E. Schlotheuber, ed., Carlo IV e l’Italia, Nuovi Studi Storici (Rome: ISIME, 2022), 189-209.

with B. Maxson, ‘Regimes and Regime Change in Italy, c.1494-c.1559’, in A. Lee and B. Maxson, eds., The Culture and Politics of Regime Change in Italy, c .1494-c.1559 (Abingdon: Routledge, 2022), 1-8.

‘The Historiography of Regime Change in Machiavelli’s Discursus rerum florentinarum post mortem iunioris Laurentii Medices’, in A. Lee and B. Maxson, eds., The Culture and Politics of Regime Change in Italy, c .1494-c.1559 (Abingdon: Routledge, 2022), 166-89.

‘Louis IV of Bavaria through Humanist Eyes’, in A. Huijbers, ed., Emperors and Imperial Discourse in Italy, c.1300-1500. New Perspectives (Rome: Ecole Français de Rome, 2022), 283-324.

‘Culture and the arts’, in I. Lazzarini, ed., The Short Oxford History of Europe: The Late Middle Ages (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021), 109-36.

'Machiavelli and the Benefits of Civil Strife', in K. Almqvist, M. Hesserus, and I. Martin, eds., Society in Crisis (Stockholm: Bokförlaget Stolpe, 2021), 107-18.

‘The Renaissance Problem of the Immortality of the Soul’, dans M. Scarbi, ed., Encyclopedia of Renaissance Philosophy (Berlin and Heidelberg: Springer, 2020).

‘Augustinianism’ in M. Scarbi, ed., Encyclopedia of Renaissance Philosophy (Berlin and Heidelberg : Springer, 2019).

‘Michelangelo, Tommaso de’ Cavalieri, and the Agency of the Gift-Drawing’, dans G. Jurkowlaniez, I. Matyjaszkiewicz, et Z. Sarnecka, eds., The Agency of Things in Medieval and Early Modern Art: Materials, Power and Manipulation (New York: Routledge, 2018), 103-16. [Open Access]

‘The Look(s) of Love: Petrarch, Simone Martini and the Ambiguities of Portraiture’, Journal of Art Historiography 17 (2017): https://arthistoriography.files.wordpress.com/2017/11/lee.pdf.

‘Histoire et positivisme chez Huysmans et Umberto Eco’, Bulletin de la Société J.-K. Huysmans 109 (2016): 87-106.

‘Albertino Mussato and the Defence of Empire,’ in N. Baker and B. Maxton, eds., After Civic Humanism: Learning and Politics in Renaissance Italy, 1300-1600 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2015), 75-91.

‘Petrarch and the Venetian-Genoese War of 1350-1355,’ in W. Rossiter and J. Powell, eds., Authority and Diplomacy from Dante to Shakespeare (Farnham: Ashgate, 2013), 39-56.

‘Neither one thing nor the other: Albertino Mussato on Luxembourg,’ Hémecht 64/2 (2012): 5-19.

‘Petrarch, Rome, and the “Dark Ages”,’ in in P. Prebys, ed., Early Modern Rome, 1341-1667 (Ferrara: EDISAI, 2012), 9-26.

‘Seeing is believing? The Renaissance and the Arts’ in A. Lee, P. Péporté and H. Schnitker, eds., Renaissance? Perceptions of Continuity and Discontinuity in Europe, c.1300-c.1550 (Leiden: Brill, 2010), 97-113.

‘A Wider Renaissance?’ in A. Lee, P. Péporté and H. Schnitker, eds., Renaissance? Perceptions of Continuity and Discontinuity in Europe, c.1300-c.1550 (Leiden: Brill, 2010), 247-67.

‘Sin City? The image of Babylon in Petrarch’s Canzoniere,’ in J. Fitzpatrick, ed., The Idea of the City: Early Modern, Modern and Post-Modern Locations and Communities (Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Press, 2009), 39-52.

‘Roman Law and Human Liberty: Marsilius of Padua on Property Rights,’ Journal of the History of Ideas 70/1 (January 2009): 23-44.

Selected Reviews

Review of Giuliano de’ Medici: Machiavelli’s Prince in Life and Art by Josephine Jungić, English Historical Review 136/579 (2021).

Review of My Secret Book by Francesco Petrarca, ed. and trans. Nicholas Mann, Renaissance Quarterly, 72/4 (2019):1422-4.

Review of Avignon and Its Papacy, 1309-1417: Popes, Institutions and Society by J. Rollo-Koster, Renaissance and Reformation 40/4 (2017): 234-7.

Review of Description ou Traicté du Gouvernement et Regime de la Cité et Seigneurie de Venise: Venezia vista dalla Francia ai primi del Cinquecento, ed. P. Braunstein and Reinhold C. Mueller, Renaissance Quarterly 70/2 (2017): 726-8.

Review of Petrarch’s Humanist Writing and Carthusiasn Monasticism: The Secret Language of the Self by D. S. Yocum, Renaissance Quarterly 67/3 (2014): 1066-68.

‘A poetic place to be,’ Review of Dante and Italy in British Romanticism, ed. F. Burwick and P. Douglass, Times Literary Supplement 5672 (December 16, 2011): 26.

Review of Communes and Despots in Medieval and Renaissance Italy, ed. J. Law and B. Paton, Reviews in History (June 2011: review no. 1089); http://www.history.ac.uk/reviews/review/1089

Selected Articles in Other Publications

Review of Islamesque: The Forgotten Craftsmen Who Built Europe’s Medieval Monuments by Diana Drake, Literary Review (forthcoming, December 2024).

Review of Goethe: His Faustian Life, by A. N. Wilson, Spectator (November 2024).

Review of Wild Thing: A Life of Paul Gauguin, by Sue Prideaux, The Critic 52 (November 2024), 70-1.

‘Missing Pieces: Euripides’ Lost Plays’, History Today 74/10 (October 2024): 90-93.

‘Guercino and the Business of Art’, Engelsberg Ideeas (21 August 2024): https://engelsbergideas.com/reviews/guercino-and-the-business-of-art/

‘Missing Pieces: King John’s Lost Treasure’, History Today 74/8 (August 2024): 90-93.

‘Architect, Philosopher and Horse Tamer: Review of Leon Battista Alberti: Writer and Humanist, by Martin McLaughlin’, Literary Review, 531 (July 2024), 27-8.

‘Ismail Kadare Walked the Line’, Engelsberg Ideas (12 July 2024): https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/ismail-kadare-walked-the-line/

‘Godfather of the Reformation: Review of Lucas Cranach: From German Myth to Reformation, by Jennifer Nelson’, The Critic (June 2024), 62-3.

‘Missing Pieces: The Lost Altarpiece’, History Today 74/6 (June 2024): 90-93.

‘Rethinking Impressionism’, Engelsberg Ideas (15 April 2024): https://engelsbergideas.com/reviews/rethinking-impressionism/

‘Missing Pieces: The Lost Messiah’, History Today 74/4 (April 2024): 90-93.

Review of Magus: The Art of Magic from Faustus to Agrippa, by Anthony Grafton, The Critic (February 2024).

‘Missing Pieces: Stalin’s Lost Call’, History Today 74/2 (February 2024): 90-93.

‘Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie and the Humanity of History’, Engelsberg Ideas (8 January 2024): https://engelsbergideas.com/notebook/emmanuel-le-roy-ladurie-and-the-humanity-of-history/ 

‘Missing Pieces: The Lost Years of Jesus’, History Today 73/12 (December 2023): 90-3.

Review of Dürer’s Lost Masterpiece: Art and Society at the Dawn of a Global World, by Ulinka Rublack, The Critic 42 (November 2023): 60-1.

‘Missing Pieces: The Lost Professor’, History Today 73/10 (October 2023): 88-91.

Review of The Posthumous Papers of the Manuscripts Club, by Christopher de Hamel, The Critic 40 (August/September 2023): 64-5.

‘Ransacking Naples’, Engelsberg Ideas (21 August 2023): https://engelsbergideas.com/reviews/ransacking-naples/ 

‘Missing Pieces: The Lost Script’, History Today 73/8 (August 2023): 88-91.

‘Machiavelli’s Take on Mercenaries’, Engelsberg Ideas (27 June 2023): https://engelsbergideas.com/notebook/machiavellis-take-on-mercenaries/

‘Missing Pieces: The Lost City’, History Today 73/6 (June 2023): 88-91.

Review of The Po: An Elegy for Italy’s Longest River, by Tobias Jones, The Critic (May 2023): 54-5.

‘Giovanni Bellini, the Soul of Venice’, Engelsberg Ideas (6 April 2023): https://engelsbergideas.com/reviews/giovanni-bellini-the-soul-of-venice/

‘Missing Pieces: Lost Movies’, History Today 73/4 (April 2023): 84-9.

Review of The Incomparable Monsignor: Francesco Bianchini’s World of Science, History and Court Intrigue, by J. L. Heilbron, The Critic (February 2023): 60-1.

‘Missing Pieces: The ‘Lost’ Emperor?’, History Today 73/2 (February 2023): 84-9.

‘The Infinite Delight of Italo Calvino: Review of The Written World and the Unwritten World. Collected Non-Fiction, by Italo Calvino’, Engelsberg Ideas (27 January 2023): https://engelsbergideas.com/reviews/the-infinite-delight-of-italo-calvino/

‘Missing Pieces: Armless Fun’, History Today 72/12 (December 2022): 84-8.

‘Great Books: I Viceré by Federico De Roberto’, Engelsberg Ideas (11 November 2022): https://engelsbergideas.com/reviews/great-books-i-vicere-by-federico-de-roberto/

'Missing Pieces: No Laughing Matter?', History Today 72/10 (October 2022): 82-7.

‘Missing Pieces: Going, Going…Goethe?’, History Today 72/8 (August 2022): 84-9.

‘The War against Printing’, Engelsberg Ideas (1 August 2022).

‘Missing Pieces: Caravaggio Lost at Sea’, History Today 72/6 (June 2022): 84-9.

Review of Beautiful Star, by Yukio Mishima, The Critic 28 (June 2022): 54-5.

‘Missing Pieces: Not All There’, History Today 72/4 (April 2022): 84-7.

‘Natural Histories: Newt’, History Today 72/2 (February 2022): 84-9.

‘Natural Histories: Lobster’, History Today 72/1 (January 2022): 84-9.

‘Natural Histories: Reindeer’, History Today 71/12 (December 2021): 83-7.

‘Natural Histories: Donkey’, History Today 71/11 (November 2021): 83-7.

‘Natural Histories: Falcon’, History Today 71/10 (October 2021): 84-9.

‘Natural Histories: Tortoises’, History Today 71/9 (September 2021): 84-9.

‘Natural Histories: Cicadas’, History Today 71/8 (August 2021): 84-9.

‘Natural Histories: Dolphin’, History Today 71/7 (July 2021): 84-8.

‘Dante in the Dock’, New Statesman (11-17 June 2021): 28-31.

'Guittone d'Arezzo: Dante's Forgotten Muse', Engelsberg Ideas (9 June 2021).

‘Natural Histories: Platypus’, History Today 71/6 (June 2021): 84-9.

‘Natural Histories: Sparrow’, History Today 71/5 (May 2021): 84-9.

‘Natural Histories: Pigeons’, History Today 71/4 (April 2021): 84-9.

‘Natural Histories: Marmots’, History Today 71/3 (March 2021): 84-9.

‘Natural Histories: Ostrich’, History Today 71/2 (February 2021): 84-9.

‘Joe Biden and the Attractions of Augustine’, Engelsberg Ideas (23 January 2021).

‘Natural Histories: Elephants’, History Today 71/1 (January 2021): 84-9.

‘Natural Histories: Horses’, History Today 70/12 (December 2020): 84-8.

‘Natural Histories: Pigs’, History Today 70/11 (November 2020): 84-98.

‘Natural Histories: Bats’, History Today 70/10 (October 2020): 84-9.

‘Natural Histories: Jellyfish’, History Today 70/9 (September 2020): 84-9.

‘Natural Histories: Rhino’, History Today 70/8 (August 2020): 84-9.

‘Natural Histories: Dog’, History Today 70/7 (July 2020): 84-9.

‘What Machiavelli knew about pandemics’, New Statesman (5-11 June 2020) : 22-5.

‘Natural Histories : Earthworms’, History Today 70/6 (June 2020) : 84-8.

‘Natural Histories : Swallows’, History Today 70/5 (May 2020) : 84-8.

‘Natural Histories : Bulls’, History Today 70/4 (April 2020) : 82-6.

‘Natural Histories : Eels’, History Today 70/3 (March 2020) : 84-8.

‘Natural Histories : Monkeys’, History Today 70/2 (February 2020) : 84-8.

‘Natural Histories : Wolf’, History Today 70/1 (January 2020) : 84-8.

‘The Historian’s Cookbook : Haggis’, History Today 69/12 (December 2019) : 82-6.

‘The Historian’s Cookbook : Salt Cod’, History Today 69/11 (November 2019) : 82-6.

‘The Historian’s Cookbook : Chop Suey’, History Today 69/10 (October 2019) : 84-8.

‘The Historian’s Cookbook : Börek’, History Today 69/9 (September 2019) : 84-8.

‘The Historian’s Cookbook : Barbecue’, History Today 69/8 (August 2019) : 82-6.

‘The Historian’s Cookbook : Picnic’, History Today 69/7 (July 2019) : 82-6.

‘The Historian’s Cookbook : Enchiladas’, History Today 69/6 (June 2019) : 84-8.

‘The Historian’s Cookbook : Jerk, History Today 69/5 (May 2019): 84-8.

‘The Historian’s Cookbook : Simnel Cake’, History Today 69/4 (April 2019): 84-8.

‘The Historian’s Cookbook : Sushi’, History Today 69/3 (March 2019): 84-8.

‘The Historian’s Cookbook : Goulash’, History Today 69/2 (February 2019): 84-8.

‘The Historian’s Cookbook : Falafel’, History Today 69/1 (January 2019): 84-8.

‘The Historian’s Cookbook : Panettone’, History Today 68/12 (December 2018): 84-8.

‘The Historian’s Cookbook : Kedgeree’, History Today 68/11 (November 2018): 84-8.

‘The Historian’s Cookbook : Pot au Feu’, History Today 68/10 (October 2018): 86-8.

‘The Historian’s Cookbook : Ice Cream’, History Today 68/9 (September 2018): 86-8.

‘The Historian’s Cookbook : Borscht’, History Today 68/8 (August 2018): 86-8.

‘The Historian’s Cookbook : Pizza’, History Today 68/7 (July 2018): 86-8.

‘The Music of Time : A Light in the Darkness’, History Today 68/6 (June 2018): 86-8.

‘The Music of Time : The Suffragette Songstress’, History Today 68/5 (May 2018): 86-8.

‘The Music of Time : The Lost Classics’, History Today 68/4 (April 2018): 86-8.

‘The Music of Time : Beethoven and Napoleon’, History Today 68/3 (March 2018): 86-8.

‘The Music of Time : Slips of the Tongue’, History Today 68/2 (February 2018): 86-8.

‘The Music of Time: The Musical Machiavelli’, History Today 68/1 (January 2018): 86-8.

‘The Music of Time: The Art of Noises’, History Today 67/12 (December 2017): 84-6.

‘The Music of Time: The Din of Battle’, History Today 67/11 (November 2017): 86-8.

‘The Music of Time: Listening for the Changes’, History Today 67/10 (October 2017): 86-8.

‘The Music of Time: The Sound of Silence’, History Today 67/9 (September 2017): 86-8.

‘The Music of Time: Angelic Choirs and Devilish Voices’, History Today 67/8 (August 2017): 86-8.

‘The Music of Time: For Whom the Bells Toll’, History Today 67/7 (July 2017): 86-8.

‘Portrait of the Author as a Historian: Svetlana Alexievich’, History Today 67/6 (June 2017): 86-8.

‘Portrait of the Author as a Historian: Pramoedya Ananta Toer’, History Today 67/5 (May 2017): 86-8.

‘Portrait of the Author as a Historian: Yukio Mishima’, History Today 67/4 (April 2017): 54-5.

‘Portrait of the Author as a Historian: Imre Kertész’, History Today 67/3 (March 2017): 54-5.

‘Portrait of the Author as a Historian: Toni Morrison’, History Today 67/2 (Feburary 2017): 54-5.

‘Portrait of the Author as a Historian: Naguib Mahfouz’, History Today 67/1 (January 2017): 54-5.

‘Portrait of the Author as a Historian: Chinua Achebe’, History Today 66/12 (December 2016): 54-5.

‘Portrait of the Author as a Historian: Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa’, History Today 66/11 (November 2016): 54-5.

‘The sculptor who created ballets for the soul’, Catholic Herald (November 25, 2016), 31.

‘Portrait of the Author as a Historian: Jorge Luis Borges’, History Today 66/10 (October 2016): 54-5.

‘Portrait of the Author as a Historian: Penelope Fitzgerald’, History Today 66/9 (September 2016): 54-5.

‘Portrait of the Author as a Historian: Fernand Braudel’, History Today 66/8 (August 2016): 54-5.

‘Portrait of the Author as a Historian: Stefan Zweig’, History Today 66/7 (July 2016): 54-5.

 'A Rose by Any Other Name: Umberto Eco (1932-2016)', History Today (24th February 2016). Also, a link to the programme on France Culture which discussed the article: Combler les lacunes du texte

‘J.M.W. Turner, art master and polemicist’, Sunday Telegraph (24 September 2014): 28.

‘The wild atheist who sheltered in the Virgin’s cloak’, Catholic Herald (22 August 2014): 7.

‘Reaching for the Sky,’ History Today 63/11 (November 2013): 18-20.

‘The Art of Power,’ History Today 63/7 (July 2013): 72.

‘We have always taken liberties with Dante,’ Sunday Telegraph (31 March 2013): 30.

‘Rome After Silvio,’ Wall Street Journal (10 November 2011): 18.

‘Italy’s Absent Opposition,’ Wall Street Journal (19 October 2011): 15.

‘Attractions of Autocracy,’ History Today 61/7 (July 2011): 18-25.

‘The Sins of the Fathers: Italy’s Democratic Deficit,’ History Today 61/3 (March 2011): 3-4.