Medici

The Medici family's wealth does not automatically make its position secure. Medici turns banking, patronage and rivalry in Renaissance Florence into a historical family drama, beginning with Cosimo before moving to a later generation.

The setting is a substantial attraction. Art and architecture are part of how authority is displayed, not merely attractive objects behind the actors. The family business also gives the political arguments practical stakes: an alliance has to survive pressures that a ceremonial gesture cannot resolve.

The writing is more conventional than the surroundings. Romance and conspiracy sometimes simplify a complicated period into familiar dramatic moves, and invented material should not be mistaken for established history. It works better approached as historical fiction than as a lesson in Florentine politics.

If you enjoy family ambition in a handsome period setting, there is plenty to engage with. Wolf Hall is more restrained and precise about negotiation; Rome gives its political struggle a much rougher street-level life. Medici is the more romantic proposition.