The Devil's Broker: Seeking Gold, God, and Glory in Fourteenth- Century Italy
Worth buying if: You enjoy narrative-driven microhistories about economic and religious life.
Skip it if: You want a dense academic monograph heavy on theory and footnotes.
Exact edition: Paperback · ISBN-13 9780060777302. The Amazon link uses this ISBN, so the product page should open to the edition shown here.
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Summary
Frances Stonor Saunders traces the life and world of a powerful medieval broker, revealing how money, religion and politics intertwined to forge early modern Europe in a tale of streets, courts and markets.
Why this book now
This deep, narrative history illuminates long-standing links between finance and moral authority that still resonate in conversations about wealth and power today.
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Best for readers who...
Good fit if you want...
- You enjoy narrative-driven microhistories about economic and religious life.
- You appreciate richly detailed medieval social and institutional history.
- You want a dense academic monograph heavy on theory and footnotes.
- You prefer fast-paced fiction or modern financial thrillers.
Decided it fits?
Exact edition: Paperback · ISBN-13 9780060777302
Worth buying if: You enjoy narrative-driven microhistories about economic and religious life.
Skip it if: You want a dense academic monograph heavy on theory and footnotes.
Check Amazon for the current price and availability of this exact edition.
Reader guide
Cues to help you decide faster.
Reading commitment
Steady Needs some room
At roughly 400 pages, expect a substantial but readable single-volume history — plan for steady, attentive reading over several weeks or a focused weekend for committed readers.
What stands out here
This HarperCollins edition presents Saunders' narrative synthesis of archival research and storytelling, emphasizing social context and character-driven reconstruction over technical economic analysis.
Best way to approach it
Read slowly to absorb names, institutions and chronology; pause to reflect on parallels with modern finance and re-read key scenes to track evolving alliances.
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Paperback: ISBN-13 9780060777302
Check Amazon for the current price and availability of this exact edition.