Medici. Ascendancy

Shrewd bankers, astute politicians, godfathers of the Renaissance, glittering dukes... how history remembers Florence's most notorious family. But the Medici and their bloody path to power was built on murder, intrigue and conspiracies that stretched across three centuries. Florence, 1429. Giovanni de Medici, the family patriarch, has been poisoned. In their quest for political power, the Medici have made bitter enemies in every corner of the republic. And now Giovanni's sons, Cosimo and Lorenzo, have become the hereditary dukes of a city where loyalty can always be bought. While Lorenzo hunts for their father's killer, Cosimo petitions their remaining allies as Italy heads towards civil war. But the Medici will need more than alliances to survive, otherwise their beloved Florence - and their dynasty - will drown in blood...