The Artist, the Philosopher, and the Warrior: The Intersecting Lives of Da Vinci, Machiavelli, and Borgia and the World They Shaped

Paul Strathern

Random House Publishing Group, Sep 29, 2009 - History - 480 pages

Leonardo da Vinci, Niccolò Machiavelli, and Cesare Borgia—three iconic figures whose intersecting lives provide the basis for this astonishing work of narrative history. They could not have been more different, and they would meet only for a short time in 1502, but the events that transpired when they did would significantly alter each man’s perceptions—and the course of Western history.

In 1502, Italy was riven by conflict, with the city of Florence as the ultimate prize. Machiavelli, the consummate political manipulator, attempted to placate the savage Borgia by volunteering Leonardo to be Borgia’s chief military engineer. That autumn, the three men embarked together on a brief, perilous, and fateful journey through the mountains, remote villages, and hill towns of the Italian Romagna—the details of which were revealed in Machiavelli’s frequent dispatches and Leonardo’s meticulous notebooks. 

Superbly written and thoroughly researched, The Artist, the Philosopher, and the Warrior is a work of narrative genius—whose subject is the nature of genius itself.

Contents

• A Unique Constellation: 1
• The Artist the Philosopher and the Warrior: 2
• Leonardo Learning II: 11
• A Surprise Appointment: 37
• The Pope and His Bastard: 63
• Cesare Rising: 80
• In the Romagna: 99
• Treachery and Bluff 101 ཎྜཎྜ ཊྛཎྜ༣ཎྜ༣ 6 Obeying Orders: 109
• Either Caesar or nothing: 114
• A new science: 121
• Leonardo at Work: 128
• Borgia at Bay: 143
• Machiavellis Mission: 152
• The Ghost: 158
• Borgia Negotiates: 169
• A Definitive Move: 182
• An action worthy of a Roman: 193
• What has happened so far is nothing compared with: 207
• Machiavelli Uses His Influence: 236
• The Election of a New Pope: 257
• Squaring the Circle: 270
• A Changed Man: 283
• Return to Florence: 305
• Coaxing Water: 318
• Borgias Gamble: 329
• Machiavellis Militia: 346
• Borgia in Spain: 364
• Leonardos Loss: 374
• Am I a Machiavel?: 395
• Notes: 413
• Select Bibliography: 439

About the author

Paul Strathern has lectured in philosophy and mathematics and is a Somerset Maugham Prize–winning novelist. He is the author of two series—Philosophers in 90 Minutes and The Big Idea: Scientists Who Changed the World—Napoleon in Egypt, and the Sunday Times bestseller The Medici: Godfathers of the Renaissance. He lives in London.

Bibliographic information

• Title: The Artist, the Philosopher, and the Warrior: The Intersecting Lives of Da Vinci, Machiavelli, and Borgia and the World They Shaped
• Author: Paul Strathern
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group, 2009
• ISBN: 0553906895, 9780553906899
• Length: 480 pages
• Subjects: History / Europe / General; History / Europe / Italy; History / Europe / Renaissance