{"product_id":"the-world-at-first-light-a-new-history-of-the-renaissance-hardcover","title":"The World at First Light: A New History of the Renaissance - Hardcover","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eBernd Roeck\u003c\/b\u003e (Author), \u003cb\u003ePatrick Baker\u003c\/b\u003e (Translator)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA magisterial history of the Renaissance and the birth of the modern world\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe cultural epoch we know as the Renaissance emerged at a certain time and in a certain place. Why then and not earlier? Why there and not elsewhere? In \u003ci\u003eThe World at First Ligh\u003c\/i\u003et, historian Bernd Roeck explores the cultural and historical preconditions that enabled the European Renaissance. Roeck shows that the rediscovery of ancient knowledge, including the science of the medieval Arab world, played a critical role in shaping the beginnings of Western modernity. He explains that the Renaissance emerged in a part of Europe where competing states and cities formed relatively open societies. Most of the era's creative minds--from Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo to Copernicus and Galileo--came from the middle classes. The art of arguing flowered, the basso continuo to intellectual and cultural breakthroughs. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eRoeck argues that two revolutions shaped the Renaissance: a media revolution, triggered by Gutenberg's invention of movable type--which itself was a driving force behind the scientific revolution--and the advent of modern science. He also reports on the dark side of the era--hatred of Jews, witch panic, religious wars, and the atrocities of colonialism. In a series of meditative counterfactuals, Roeck considers other cultural rebirths throughout the first millennium, from the Islamic empire to the Carolingians, examining why the epic developments of the Renaissance took place in the West and not elsewhere. The complicated legacy of the Renaissance, he shows, encompasses the art of critical thinking as learned from the ancients, the emergence of the modern state, and the genesis of democracy.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eBernd Roeck\u003c\/b\u003e has been professor of modern history at the University of Zurich and director of the German Centre for Venetian Studies in Venice. He is the author of \u003ci\u003eFlorence 1900: The Quest for Arcadia\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eCivic Culture and Everyday Life in Early Modern Germany\u003c\/i\u003e, and other books.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1184\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 2.9 x 9.4 x 6.1 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e June 03, 2025\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51978288136493,"sku":"9780691183831","price":40.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0938\/3185\/6429\/files\/LxQ5HmiMX-9780691183831.webp?v=1775801471","url":"https:\/\/ishookbooks.com\/products\/the-world-at-first-light-a-new-history-of-the-renaissance-hardcover","provider":"iShook Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}