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E. R. Chamberlin
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The Sack of Rome (The Mad, Bad and Ugly of Italian History) Kindle Edition

by E.R. Chamberlin (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.3 out of 5 stars 235 ratings
An epic account of the moment when Renaissance Rome was torn apart and mercilessly destroyed by mutinous Christian soldiers.

An ideal book for those who have enjoyed the works of Barbara W. Tuchman, G. J. Meyer and John Julius Norwich.

In the early morning of 6 May, 1527, the 20,000 starving, unpaid troops of Emperor Charles V began their assault on the great walls of Rome. After only a few hours they had overcome the barricades; the city into which they streamed was now in their grip. This uncontrollable force of German landsknechts, Spanish soldiers and Italian mercenaries showed no mercy as they plundered, raped and slayed their way through the holy city.

Why was this monumental army camped outside the walls of Rome? Did the Protestant beliefs of many landsknechts cause them to act more mercilessly towards the Pope’s subjects? And how were some of the most powerful men in history powerless to stop this atrocious event?

E. R. Chamberlin’s masterful study traces the origins of this tragic events and uncovers the personalities who had unwittingly led to it, from Charles de Bourbon, the leader of the army who was killed at the moment of assault, to King François I of France and Emperor Charles V whose rivalry had laid waste Italian lands, and of course, Pope Clement VII, who had retreated to the safety of Castel Sant’ Angelo while his Swiss Guard were slaughtered behind him.

Drawing upon numerous contemporary sources, Chamberlin has created a fascinatingly readable account, contrasting the glory of Renaissance Rome before the Imperial army arrived with the squalor that was left in its wake as starvation and plague killed off the few remaining inhabitants that had not chosen to flee.
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  1. Part of series
    The Mad, Bad and Ugly of Italian History
  2. Print length
    349 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Accessibility
    Learn more
  5. Publication date
    March 13, 2022
  6. File size
    3.8 MB
  7. Page Flip
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  8. Word Wise
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  9. Enhanced typesetting
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Timothy Campbell is the Audie and AudioFile Earphones Award-winning voice of hundreds of audiobook titles in almost every literary genre.

E. R. Chamberlin was an author and historian. During his lifetime, he authored numerous popular history books on topics ranging from ancient Rome to twentieth-century Britain. Although he was born in Jamaica, he returned to England with his father during the Great Depression. Chamberlin dropped out of school when he was fourteen and became an apprentice leather dresser. When he was old enough, he eagerly left this work behind to enlist in the Royal Navy in 1944. He served in the military until 1947 and then found work at the Norwich Public Library. It was here that his real education began, and Chamberlin took advantage of his vocation by reading history texts avidly. He later also worked at the Holborn Public Library and then for the book division at Readers' Digest. His first book, The Count of Virtue: Giangaleazzo Visconti, Duke of Milan, was released in 1965. This would be followed by thirty more books over the next three decades. Among these are The Bad Popes, The Sack of Rome, The Nineteenth Century, The Emperor, Charlemagne, and The Tower of London: An Illustrated History. Also active in historical preservation projects, Chamberlin helped rescue the Guildford Institute building from destruction in 1982 and had a monument to Admiral Horatio Nelson constructed on Mt. Etna in Italy. For the former endeavor, Chamberlin was recognized with an honorary degree from the University of Surrey in 1982.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09NKYNY7W
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Sapere Books
  • Accessibility ‏ : ‎ Learn more
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 13, 2022
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 3.8 MB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 349 pages
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1800554627
  • Page Flip ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Part of series ‏ : ‎ The Mad, Bad and Ugly of Italian History
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 out of 5 stars 235 ratings

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E. R. Chamberlin

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4.3 out of 5 stars
235 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • Margaret W.
    5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent writer
    Reviewed in the United States on November 11, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    I love this author's take on history. People and episodes brought to life. Highly recommend.
    One person found this helpful
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  • wylie smith
    4.0 out of 5 stars Text but no illustrations
    Reviewed in the United States on September 17, 2022
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    I read this book in the early eighties, and the book contained illustrations. I was disappointed that they were omitted here. And the author should have provided maps, but .... This book does do a good job of showing the convoluted agendas of the people and 'countries.' Once again, hindsight shows how foolish\self-centered we humans are. Chamberlain gives us the actions - and foibles - of the principal (unprincipled) actors in a cogent manner.
    3 people found this helpful
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  • bill41
    5.0 out of 5 stars very informative read
    Reviewed in the United States on September 3, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    A very informative and interesting read. Provides abundant detail while maintaining an easy and enjoyable pace. Great history for the lay reader.
    6 people found this helpful
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  • Max
    5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
    Reviewed in the United States on May 21, 2015
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    Informative, entertaining, a fascinating history of the time.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Bayard B.
    4.0 out of 5 stars Very good. Combination of Pope Clement VII, King Francois I et. al. against Emperor Charles V.
    Reviewed in the United States on December 22, 2021
    I thought it was an entertaining and informative book on the "Sack of Rome" in 1527. The book describes the political and military background involving King Francois I of France, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and simultaneously King of Spain Charles V, the Imperialist / Holy Roman army led by the Duke of Bourbon, and Pope Clement VII. The book also describes in detail the preceding events such as the French invasion of Italy in 1524 and the ensuing Battle of Pavia in which King Francois was captured. For the uninitiated, the Sack of Rome was the result of a war between the Holy League (Pope Clement VII, King Francois I of France, Venice, and Milan) against the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. In religious and political terms, it probably doesn't get much more complicated than that combination.

    Another very good book by E. R. Chamberlain on the historical period is "The Bad Popes."
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Cory Pfister
    4.0 out of 5 stars The Ideal Popular History: Well-Written, Informative, and Entertaining
    Reviewed in the United States on March 27, 2007
    It is, in many respects, more difficult to write a history for a lay audience than for an academic one. With the latter, one may safely assume that the reader will know the basic outlines of the history, culture, political instituions, etc, of an age, while a book written for the general public must inform its audience of everything necessary to follow the story without getting bogged down in details. Chamberlin pulls off this balancing act masterfully, weaving information about bewildering diplomatic maneuverings and complicated social changes into an entertaining narrative. While it doesn't get into historiogragphical problems or detailed readings of primary sources, it does an admirable job in teaching about an important era and event.

    The story told is of the 1527 attack on Rome by an army, ostensibly loyal to the Holy Roman Emporer Charles V (though the time the attack occured it was largely acting of its own accord, driven by desperation), which ended in a dreadful sack of the city. The book starts off with a general survey of the politics and diplomacy in 16th century Western Europe, thus introducing the reader to all of the major players, then gives an account of the specific events leading up to the expedition, and ends with a detailed description of the sack itself and its aftermath. The book features a few black and white illustrations, some genealogies, which I never needed to use, and an index, which I used a few times to refresh my memory and never found lacking. It could use a few maps (at the least one of Italy and another of Rome) and some notes (it contains a bibliography of secondary works, but no other sourcing), but neither absence proves to be too problematic.

    This review is of the 1985 Dorset Press edition, ISBN 0-88029-067-6.
    15 people found this helpful
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  • Maicol
    1.0 out of 5 stars Untrue
    Reviewed in the United States on September 14, 2020
    The "history" related is untrue. Chamberlin's account of Francis' upbringing bears little resemblance to the facts. Chamberlin writes " When François was sixteen he was formally recognised as heir and summoned to the royal court at Blois". In fact Louis XII had caused François and Claude to be engaged in 1505, when François would have been 11. Chamberlin does not mention the prior engagement of Claude and the future Emperor Charles V. The book is not only wrong it is misleading.
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Top reviews from other countries

  • Deirdre E Siegel
    5.0 out of 5 stars Italian history
    Reviewed in Australia on December 6, 2023
    Verified Purchase
    Italian history from ER Chamberlain, this one reads like a graphic novel about the sack of Rome. :-)
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  • M. Schweiger
    5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant, vivid - narrative history at its best
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 25, 2012
    Verified Purchase
    E. R. Chamberlin, brilliantly understands and vividly portrays ,The Sack Of Rome` of 1527. Set in the struggle between Charles V and Francis I over hegemony in Renaissance Europe events unfold which lead to the sack and utter destruction of Rome by a Christian army.

    Pope Clement VII (Giulio de' Medici and nephew of pope Leo X), unlike his rather determined uncle Leo X takes a series of decisions (and later revokes them) which might in earlier times have earned him the sobriquet `Cunctator' - but unlike his Roman predecessor his dithering contributes to the demise of Rome rather than to its relief.

    Charles, Duke of Bourbon and most influential and wealthy nobleman of France, tragic hero of this narrative changes his allegiance to Charles V after several humiliations received by Francis I and fights the Emperor's wars in Italy. After raising an army in Nuremberg with the old mercenary Georg Frundsberg, several skirmishes and a harsh winter with no pay for the German landsknechts, the motley crew of Italians, Spaniards and Germans sets course to Rome and (by chance or congenial plan?) manage to take and subsequently sack and utterly ruin the poorly defended Rome.

    The description of the events, complex as they were, is no less than brilliant (and the repetition of this adjective may be forgiven, but it truly is). What happens to Rome and the Romans during the eight months these unruly and unconventional semi-barbaric hordes are on the loose is hardly describable, though Chamberlin manages to (insofar as possible) delicately do so.

    Great book. Ought to be reprinted.
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  • Philip Meers
    4.0 out of 5 stars Well worth reading
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 10, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    I've been reading my way through the mad, bad and ugly, and have found them to be generally good. The pre-sacking of Rome is dealt with excellently, detailed, well written, and fascinating. However, I think that I chose to read this at the wrong time. The details of the sack of Rome are pretty graphic, and I found them too much in the light of current world events. I devoured the first part, but skimmed the latter.

    A book to return to another time in my case.
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  • Robert
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great read
    Reviewed in Australia on March 18, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    So many characters ,so much information, A well put together story, and disturbing at times.
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  • Kindle Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars A masterly description of a tragic event.
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 10, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    This was by far the most masterly description of the tragedy that was the Sack of Rome I have read. The complexities of the personalities, politics and events of the time were defined in agonising clarity and kept me enthralled by every paragraph.
    A must read for all those with an interest in this period of Italian history.
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