The World at First Light: A New History of the Renaissance
A very long Renaissance history that asks why it happened in Europe and not somewhere else.
Bernd Roeck runs to more than 900 pages, covering art, science, politics and religion, with sustained comparison to China and the Islamic world. The central question is why that burst of European creativity occurred where it did. The coverage is enormous and the organisation loose, so it rewards readers willing to move around in it rather than read straight through.
Recommended by 1 Person
Tyler Cowen
Bernd Roeck, The World at First Light: A New History of the Renaissance. 934 pp. of text, covers too many topics in too desultory a fashion?
Source · August 2025
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