published - 1989

This book is about the golden age of the Renaissance.
Dominated by the inquisition, the Medici family
is sinking into corruption, there's a relentless
persecution of knowledge, the arts and science,
and the supposed immorality of an enlightened age.

While the secret police go about their business
of arrest and torture, a group of unlikely
conspirators play a game of bluff and
concealment to protect the great works of the age.

published - 1989

In 1848 a talented, earnest group of
young artists banded together and dubbed
themselves the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.

They believed every rose must be painted
from a live flower and every face from an
actual human being, and they set out to
change the course of English painting.

Who were the dreamy women who haunt
those pictures? What happened when they
consented to model and found themselves
idealized and adored by the men that
painted them?

I've had these HB books since '89 and have
been meaning to find paperback versions
to re-read. In my attempt to sum up the
the books, I realize all to well just how
much of an impression art and common
sense have played a role in my thinking.

If you can find used copies, or maybe even
at your library, these 2 books are well
worth your time to read.

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Paris became one vast cafe. Conversation
in France was at its zenith. The intangible
flow of wit was as spontaneous as possible.
For this sparkling outburst there is no
doubt that honor should be ascribed in
part to, the great event which created new
customs and even modified human
temperament, the advent of coffee.

Jules Michelet
French Historian 1798 - 1874
describing 18th Century Paris