Thomas Cahill writes like a novelist (or a journalist) and makes interesting what many historians and art historians make dry and boring. If you want to know more about the lives of Renaissance artists and Reformation scholars, this is the book you want to read. ( )

"Heretics and Heroes" is one of a continuing series of History books by Thomas Cahill. This one is sub-titled "How Renaissance Artists and Reformation Priests Created Our World". While the book didn't sustain my interest at all times, there were a number of individual descriptions of people and events which I found informative and interesting. I specifically enjoyed the description of Martin Luther and the beginnings of the Protestant Reformation, and of course, the beginnings of the printing press. Others I found of particular interest included stories and the lives of DaVinci, Michelangelo, and Caravaggio. ( )

One of the most pivotal periods of Western civilization occurred during the Renaissance and the Reformation, to culturally impactful events that overlapped one another across Europe. Heretics and Heroes is the sixth book in Thomas Cahill’s series “The Hinges of History” highlighting the artists and the priests that changed how Europe viewed creativity and worshipped God.

Cahill begins this volume talking about philosophical struggle over the ages between Plato and Aristotle, through it is the fourth time he has discussed this millennia-long debate during the series it allows Cahill to refer back to it in the text and gives the reader a basis to understand its importance during this era. Cahill continued setting up both the Renaissance and Reformation by highlighting moments during the Late Middle Ages, especially the effects of the Black Death, leading up to and allowed for these two important moments in Western history to occur. The ‘discovery’ of the New World by Columbus and rise of the humanists begin the look at the titular heretics and heroes that will dominate the book, using both events Cahill shows the changing trends in Europe just before both the Renaissance and Reformation completely change it. The Renaissance and it’s complete change of artistic creativity of the previous millennium is taken up first through the lives of Donatello, Leonardo, and Botticelli before focusing on its height and sudden stop as a result of the Counter-Reformation in the life of Michelangelo. Then, save for a brief look at the art of Northern Europe, Cahill turns to the Reformation of Luther and the Catholic Counter-Reformation with brief looks at the Reformed movements and the development of Anglicanism.

The entire book is packed with information in a very conversational style of writing which has always been one of the strengths of Cahill’s writing. As always with a popular history book, Cahill had to pick and choose what to focus the reader’s attention on while covering as much as possible about the subject he’s decided to write about. While Cahill is pretty successful at hitting the high points and pointing readers looking for information to the appropriate place to look, his personal opinions at times overwhelm the history and themes he’s trying to bring to fore. All history authors have their personal opinions influence their work; however Cahill’s armchair psychiatry and personal theological arguments that actually have nothing to do with the debate he’s writing about at that moment in the text. While Cahill’s personal opinions have been in all of the previous books of the series, this volume it seems to not be subtle but almost blatant.

Overall Heretics and Heroes is a fine addition to the “Hinges of History” series written in a very readable style by Cahill. However, unlike the previous books in which the reader was left with wanting more, the reader will be wishing less of Cahill’s opinion and more of actual facts. Yet even with this drawback and forewarning a reader will find this book very informative. ( )

I saw this book on display at my local bookstore and was intrigued. With all the intolerance we are experiencing in the last decade I have grown curious about church history. Being very dissatisfied with the current state of most religious institutions I decided to see what the people of the past did better OR as I found out a bit worse at times! I put down that I started this book Jan 1 of 2015 because I have no idea when in 2015 I started this book but I read it just a bit at a time so I could really think on what I was learning. It is definitely not a quick or light read but if you really want to learn about life in the 1400's thru early 1600's, The art, culture, politics and religion then this is a great book to settle into and enjoy. Thomas Cahill's research and span of knowledge of the key people of this time period is excellent and because education was wasted on me in my youth :)through Mr. Cahill's writing I learned many facts and more detail about people I had heard if and had a brief knowledge of but did not care about in my self absorbed youth. What I did learn is that life is just like what Solomon said,

"What has been is what will be,
and what has been done is what will be done,
and there is nothing new under the sun.

Is there a thing of which it is said,
“See, this is new”?
It has been already
in the ages before us" ( )

Mr. Cahill is a popularizer in the very worst sense of the word. He treats history as a mine for the extraction of exempla for his remarkably contemporary prejudices and the occasional flashy bon mot. An entirely worthless volume.