Laurent Binet – författare

Florence, New Year's Day 1557. As dawn breaks, a painter is discovered lying on the floor of a church, stabbed through the heart. Above him, the paintings he laboured over for more than a decade. At his home, a hidden painting scandalously depicting Maria de Medici, daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Florence, as a naked Venus. Who is the murderer? Who is behind the painting? As the city erupts in chaos, Giorgio Vasari, the great art historian, is picked to lead the investigation.Letters fly back and forth carrying news of political plots and speculation about the killer's identity - between Maria and her aunt Catherine de' Medici, the queen of France; between Catherine and her scheming agents in Florence; and between Vasari and his friend Michelangelo. Meanwhile, the Pope is banning books and branding works of art immoral. And the truth, when it comes to light, is as shocking as the bold new artworks that have made Florence the red-hot centre of Europe.Bursting with characters and colour, Perspectives is a mystery like no other that shows us Renaissance Florence as we've never seen it before - a dazzling, hugely entertaining novel of court machinations, murder and art.

I februari 1980 blir den kände litteraturforskaren Roland Barthes påkörd i Paris när han korsar gatan efter en lunch hos president Mitterrand. En månad senare avlider han i sviterna efter olyckan.

Men tänk om det inte var en olycka? Tänk om Barthes bar på en hemlighet så stor att någon beslöt sig för att…mörda honom?

Laurent Binet har skrivit en filosofisk detektivgåta, som med finess och humor tar med läsaren på ett intellektuellt äventyr genom Frankrikes kulturella och politiska elit.

“Captivating . . . [HHhH] has a vitality very different from that of most historical fiction.” —James Wood, The New YorkerThe basis for the major motion picture, "The Man with the Iron Heart " available on streaming and home video.HHhH: "Himmlers Hirn heisst Heydrich," or "Himmler's brain is called Heydrich." The most lethal man in Hitler's cabinet, Reinhard Heydrich seemed indestructible—until two exiled operatives, a Slovak and a Czech, killed him and changed the course of history.In Laurent Binet's mesmerizing debut, we follow Jozef Gabcík and Jan Kubiš from their dramatic escape from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia to their fatal attack on Heydrich and their own brutal deaths in the basement of a Prague church. A seamless blend of memory, actuality, and Binet's own remarkable imagination, HHhH is at once thrilling and intellectually engrossing—a fast-paced novel of the Second World War that is also a profound meditation on the debt we owe to history. A Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for FictionA Financial Times Best Book of the YearA New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice

One of The Washington Post's 50 Best Novels of the YearA finalist for the 2026 Dublin Literary Award"As full of epic characters as the Sistine Chapel ceiling . . . Sinfully fun to read." -Jennifer Wilson, The New Yorker"[A] thorough success . . . A dazzling romp." -Steven Poole, The Guardian"Historical fiction doesn't get much better than this." -George Cochrane, The Telegraph (5/5 stars)One of Vulture's Best Books of 2025 (So Far)A pulse-quickening murder mystery set in Renaissance Florence by the renowned author of HHhH. As dawn breaks over the city of Florence on New Year's Day 1557, Jacopo da Pontormo is discovered lying on the floor of a church, stabbed through the heart. Above him are the frescoes he labored over for more than a decade-masterpieces all, rivaling the works of Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel. When guards search his quarters, they find an obscene painting of Venus and Cupid-with the face of Venus replaced by that of Maria de' Medici, the Duke of Florence's oldest daughter. The city erupts in chaos. Who could have committed these crimes: murder and lese-majeste? Giorgio Vasari, the great art historian, is picked to lead the investigation. Letters start to fly back and forth-between Maria and her aunt Catherine de' Medici, the queen of France; between Catherine and the scheming Piero Strozzi; and between Vasari and Michelangelo-carrying news of political plots and speculations about the identity of Pontormo's killer. The truth, when it comes to light, is as shocking as the bold new artworks that have made Florence the red-hot center of European art and intrigue. Bursting with characters and historical color, Laurent Binet's Perspective(s) is a whodunit like no other-a labyrinthine murder mystery that shows us Renaissance Florence as we've never seen it before. This is a dark, dazzling, unforgettable read.

An ambitious and highly entertaining novel of revisionist history from the author of the international bestseller HHhH, Laurent Binet’s Civilizations is nothing less than a strangely believable counterfactual history of the modern world, fizzing with ideas about colonization, empire building, and the eternal human quest for domination. It is an electrifying novel by one of Europe’s most exciting writers.C. 1000 CE: Erik the Red’s daughter heads south from Greenland1492: Columbus does not discover America1531: The Incas invade EuropeFreydis is the leader of a band of Viking warriors who get as far as Panama. Nobody knows what became of them . . .Five hundred years later, Christopher Columbus is sailing for the Americas, dreaming of gold and conquest. Even after he is captured by the Taínos, his faith in his superiority and his mission is unshaken.Thirty-nine years after that, Atahualpa, the last Inca emperor, arrives in Europe. What does he find? The Spanish Inquisition, the Reformation, capitalism, the miracle of the printing press, endless warmongering between the ruling monarchies, and constant threat from the Turks. But most of all, downtrodden populations ready for revolution. Fortunately, he has a recent guidebook to acquiring power—Machiavelli’s The Prince. It turns out he is very good at it. So, the stage is set for a Europe ruled by Incas and for a great war that will change history forever.

“Captivating . . . [HHhH] has a vitality very different from that of most historical fiction.” —James Wood, The New Yorker The basis for the major motion picture, "The Man with the Iron Heart " available on streaming and home video. HHhH: "Himmlers Hirn heisst Heydrich," or "Himmler''s brain is called Heydrich." The most lethal man in Hitler''s cabinet, Reinhard Heydrich seemed indestructible—until two exiled operatives, a Slovak and a Czech, killed him and changed the course of history. In Laurent Binet''s mesmerizing debut, we follow Jozef Gabcík and Jan Kubiš from their dramatic escape from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia to their fatal attack on Heydrich and their own brutal deaths in the basement of a Prague church. A seamless blend of memory, actuality, and Binet''s own remarkable imagination, HHhH is at once thrilling and intellectually engrossing—a fast-paced novel of the Second World War that is also a profound meditation on the debt we owe to history. A Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction A Financial Times Best Book of the Year A New York Times Book Review Editors'' Choice

Brought to you by Penguin.Florence, New Year’s Day 1557. As dawn breaks, a painter is discovered lying on the floor of a church, stabbed through the heart. Above him, the paintings he laboured over for more than a decade. At his home, a hidden painting scandalously depicting Maria de Medici, daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Florence, as a naked Venus. Who is the murderer? Who is behind the painting? As the city erupts in chaos, Giorgio Vasari, the great art historian, is picked to lead the investigation.Letters fly back and forth carrying news of political plots and speculation about the killer’s identity – between Maria and her aunt Catherine de’ Medici, the queen of France; between Catherine and her scheming agents in Florence; and between Vasari and his friend Michelangelo. Meanwhile, the Pope is banning books and branding works of art immoral. And the truth, when it comes to light, is as shocking as the bold new artworks that have made Florence the red-hot centre of Europe.Bursting with characters and colour, Perspectives is a mystery like no other that shows us Renaissance Florence as we’ve never seen it before – a dazzling, hugely entertaining novel of court machinations, murder and art.© Laurent Binet 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025