In this book, William Caferro asks if the Renaissance was really a period of progress, reason, the emergence of the individual, and the beginning of modernity. An influential investigation into the nature of the European RenaissanceSummarizes scholarly debates about the nature of the RenaissanceEngages with specific controversies concerning gender identity, economics, the emergence of the modern state, and reason and faithTakes a balanced approach to the many different problems and perspectives that characterize Renaissance studies
