More than ever before, the Renaissance stands out as one of the defining moments in world history. Between 1400 and 1600, European perceptions of society, culture, politics and even humanity itself emerged in ways that continue to affect not only Europe but the entire world.

In this wide-ranging exploration of the Renaissance, Jerry Brotton shows the period as a time of unprecedented intellectual excitement, cultural experimentation, and interaction on a global scale, alongside a darker side of religion, intolerance, slavery, and massive inequality of wealth and status. Brotton skillfully guides us through the key issues that defined the Renaissance period, from its art, architecture, and literature, to advancements in the fields of science, trade, and travel. In its incisive account of the complexities of the political and religious upheavals of the period, the book argues that there are significant parallels between the Renaissance and our own era. This is the first clear and concise account of the Renaissance as a global phenomenon, an important new vision of the Renaissance for the 21st century written by a young Renaissance scholar of a new generation.

文艺复兴比以往任何时候都更突出，是世界历史上的决定性时刻之一。在1400年至1600年期间，欧洲人对社会、文化、政治甚至人类本身的看法出现了变化，这种变化不仅继续影响着欧洲，也影响着整个世界。

在对文艺复兴的广泛探索中，杰里-布罗顿展示了这一时期前所未有的智力兴奋、文化实验和全球范围内的互动，以及宗教、不容忍、奴隶制和大规模财富和地位不平等的黑暗一面。布罗顿巧妙地引导我们了解定义文艺复兴时期的关键问题，从艺术、建筑和文学，到科学、贸易和旅行领域的进步。该书对该时期政治和宗教动荡的复杂性进行了精辟的论述，认为文艺复兴与我们这个时代有着重要的相似之处。这是第一部将文艺复兴作为全球现象的清晰而简明的描述，是由新一代年轻的文艺复兴学者为21世纪撰写的重要的文艺复兴新观点。