More than a history of a building—a fascinating portrait of Renaissance life.
An eye-opening history of Europe’s first orphanage.
Italian scholar Luzzi delves into Florence’s famous orphanage, the Hospital of the Innocents or Innocenti, which would eventually house, feed, and educate unwanted children. Flourishing Florence felt it had a religious, civic, and financial duty to care for them. In 1348 a young orphan, Francesco Datini, worked hard to become successful, in turn helping Lapo Mazzei, a professional rotary, to make a way for himself. Mazzei wanted to combat childhood misery in Florence. When older, Datini bequeathed a vast sum to the hospital where Mazzei worked, the Santa Maria Nuova, for the sole purpose of providing for abandoned children. The wealthy Silk Weavers Guild decided in 1419 to build a home for foundlings. The architect of the Duomo, Filippo Brunelleschi, created its dazzling portico. The first baby left in its foundling wagon wheel died early; 90 were left the first year, just one legitimate. Luzzi deftly explores what this difference meant socially for children and the fates of enslaved women who had illegitimate babies. Mortality rates among famine babies taken in soared, as did the need for wet nurses. In 1483 Francesco Tesori became the Innocenti’s unpaid director. He hired noted artist Domenico Ghirlandaio and others to paint works in the orphanage, thus increasing its notoriety. When Borghini became prior in 1552, he improved the education boys received and sanctioned castration. Some orphans even went on to have artistic careers. When Fra Niccolò Mazzi took over in 1581, he focused on finances while instituting repressive reforms for girls. In the mid-19th century, the numbers of new arrivals were exploding when prior Carlo Michelagnoli established farms to employ boys. A kindergarten was created in 1948, and in 1959 invaluable social workers were hired. Innocenti is now a museum and study center with a nursery school.
More than a history of a building—a fascinating portrait of Renaissance life.Pub Date: Nov. 11, 2025
ISBN: 9781324065784
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Norton
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2025
Dogged original research and superb narrative skills come together in this gripping account of pitiless evil.
Greed, depravity, and serial murder in 1920s Oklahoma.
During that time, enrolled members of the Osage Indian nation were among the wealthiest people per capita in the world. The rich oil fields beneath their reservation brought millions of dollars into the tribe annually, distributed to tribal members holding "headrights" that could not be bought or sold but only inherited. This vast wealth attracted the attention of unscrupulous whites who found ways to divert it to themselves by marrying Osage women or by having Osage declared legally incompetent so the whites could fleece them through the administration of their estates. For some, however, these deceptive tactics were not enough, and a plague of violent death—by shooting, poison, orchestrated automobile accident, and bombing—began to decimate the Osage in what they came to call the "Reign of Terror." Corrupt and incompetent law enforcement and judicial systems ensured that the perpetrators were never found or punished until the young J. Edgar Hoover saw cracking these cases as a means of burnishing the reputation of the newly professionalized FBI. Bestselling New Yorkerstaff writer Grann (The Devil and Sherlock Holmes: Tales of Murder, Madness, and Obsession, 2010, etc.) follows Special Agent Tom White and his assistants as they track the killers of one extended Osage family through a closed local culture of greed, bigotry, and lies in pursuit of protection for the survivors and justice for the dead. But he doesn't stop there; relying almost entirely on primary and unpublished sources, the author goes on to expose a web of conspiracy and corruption that extended far wider than even the FBI ever suspected. This page-turner surges forward with the pacing of a true-crime thriller, elevated by Grann's crisp and evocative prose and enhanced by dozens of period photographs.
Dogged original research and superb narrative skills come together in this gripping account of pitiless evil.Pub Date: April 18, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-385-53424-6
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2017
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
A determined if self-regarding portrait of a candidate striving to define herself and her campaign on her own terms.
An insider’s chronicle of a pivotal presidential campaign.
Several months into the mounting political upheaval of Donald Trump’s second term and following a wave of bestselling political exposés, most notably Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson’s Original Sin on Joe Biden’s health and late decision to step down, former Vice President Harris offers her own account of the consequential months surrounding Biden’s withdrawal and her swift campaign for the presidency. Structured as brief chapters with countdown headers from 107 days to Election Day, the book recounts the campaign’s daily rigors: vetting a running mate, navigating back-to-back rallies, preparing for the convention and the debate with Trump, and deflecting obstacles in the form of both Trump’s camp and Biden’s faltering team. Harris aims to set the record straight on issues that have remained hotly debated. While acknowledging Biden’s advancing decline, she also highlights his foreign-policy steadiness: “His years of experience in foreign policy clearly showed….He was always focused, always commander in chief in that room.” More blame is placed on his inner circle, especially Jill Biden, whom Harris faults for pushing him beyond his limits—“the people who knew him best, should have realized that any campaign was a bridge too far.” Throughout, she highlights her own qualifications and dismisses suggestions that an open contest might have better served the party: “If they thought I was down with a mini primary or some other half-baked procedure, I was quick to disabuse them.” Facing Trump’s increasingly unhinged behavior, Harris never openly doubts her ability to confront him. Yet she doesn’t fully persuade the reader that she had the capacity to counter his dominance, suggesting instead that her defeat stemmed from a lack of time—a theme underscored by the urgency of the book’s title. If not entirely sanguine about the future, she maintains a clear-eyed view of the damage already done: “Perhaps so much damage that we will have to re-create our government…something leaner, swifter, and much more efficient.”
A determined if self-regarding portrait of a candidate striving to define herself and her campaign on her own terms.Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2025
ISBN: 9781668211656
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
