Join us

Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Newsletter

Marco Malvaldi

The Measure of a Man

Cover: The Measure of a Man - Marco Malvaldi

Marco Malvaldi

The Measure of a Man

2019, pp. 272, Hardcover
ISBN: 9781609455514
Translated by: Howard Curtis, Katherine Gregor
Region: Italy
Available as ebook Available as ebook Available as ebook
$ 23.95

The book

A Novel about Leonardo da Vinci

October 1493. Florence is still mourning the death of Lorenzo the Magnificent. Columbus’ ships have only recently reached the New World. The modern financial system has just come into being thanks to the adoption of the letter of credit. Meanwhile, Milan is experiencing a renaissance under the leadership of Ludovico il Moro.

In those years, people wandering the environs of Milan’s Castle or along the Navigli canals often encounter a strange man in his forties, dressed in long pink robes, his expression calm, like someone lost in his own thoughts. The man lives above his workshop with his mother and a mischievous little boy whom he dotes on; he doesn’t eat meat, writes from right to left, and struggles to get paid by his employers. His name is Leonardo da Vinci. His fame extends beyond the Alps, to the French court of Charles VIII, whose envoys have been tasked with a secret mission that concerns Leonardo himself. It is rumored that the Italian inventor keeps his most daring designs—including perhaps the project for an invincible mechanical knight—in a notebook hidden under his robes, close to the heart. When a man is found dead in the Castle’s courtyard, il Moro turns to Da Vinci for help.

Five hundred years after Leonardo’s death, Marco Malvaldi combines literature, science, history, and mystery to bring back to life one of the greatest figures of the Renaissance.

The author

Marco Malvaldi
Marco Malvaldi was born and lives in Pisa, where he obtained a PhD in Chemistry from the Normale University. His previous books include the Bar Lume series, featuring Massimo the Barman and the four elderly sleuths. He is the winner of both the Isola d’Elba Award and the Castiglioncello Prize for his crime novels.

Press

From the same country

  • Cover: The Fire - Cecilia Sala

    Cecilia Sala

    The Fire

    2025, pp. 208, $ 18.00
    A powerful, unflinching portrait of a generation fighting for change in Iran, Afghanistan, and Ukraine 
  • Cover: The Burning Origin - Daniele Mencarelli

    Daniele Mencarelli

    The Burning Origin

    2025, pp. 192, $ 18.00
    A searing story about homecoming and belonging set in contemporary Rome 
  • Cover: The Malcontents - Sacha Naspini

    Sacha Naspini

    The Malcontents

    2025, pp. 480, $ 20.00
    There is a village carved into the rock of the Maremma hinterland in Tuscany and its name is Le Case. A dying country. A provincial trap. A microcosm...
  • Cover: The Four Volumes: My Brilliant Friend - Elena Ferrante

    Elena Ferrante

    The Four Volumes: My Brilliant Friend

    2025, pp. 1248, $ 65.00
    “An unconditional masterpiece.” —Jhumpa Lahiri 
  • Cover: The Days of Abandonment - Elena Ferrante

    Elena Ferrante

    The Days of Abandonment

    2025, pp. 192, $ 18.95
    The shocking story of a woman's descent into desperate loneliness.
  • Cover: The Old Man by the Sea - Domenico Starnone

    Domenico Starnone

    The Old Man by the Sea

    2025, pp. 160, $ 17.00
    From the author of Ties and The House on Via Gemito  

More suggestions

  • Cover: Amanda - H. S. Cross

    H. S. Cross

    Amanda

    2025, pp. 336, $ 26.00
    Love is the only lifeline.
  • Cover: The Golden Age - Joan London

    Joan London

    The Golden Age

    2025, pp. , $ 18.95
    Thirteen-year-old Frank Gold contracts polio and finds himself at The Golden Age, a sprawling children's hospital. But it's there that he falls in...
  • Cover: The Throne - Franco Bernini

    Franco Bernini

    The Throne

    2025, pp. 416, $ 19.95
    This meticulously researched and brilliantly told historical novel, the first of a planned trilogy, recounts the enigmatic life of Niccolò Machiavelli,...
  • Cover: The Rarest Fruit - Gaëlle Bélem

    Gaëlle Bélem

    The Rarest Fruit

    2025, pp. 192, $ 24.00
    Gaëlle Bélem’s The Rarest Fruit is a captivating tale of resilience, discovery, and the untold stories behind a beloved flavor.
  • Cover: The Ghosts of Rome - Joseph O’Connor

    Joseph O’Connor

    The Ghosts of Rome

    2025, pp. 400, $ 28.00
    In the final months of World War II, a clandestine group known as The Choir successfully smuggles thousands of escapees out of Nazi-occupied Rome...
  • Cover: The Bishop’s Villa - Sacha Naspini

    Sacha Naspini

    The Bishop’s Villa

    2024, pp. 192, $ 28.00
    From the best-selling author of Nives, a story of love, redemption, and resistance set in Italy during WWII

Join Our Newsletter and receive a FREE eBook!

Stay updated on Europa’s forthcoming releases, author tours and major news.

Are you a bookseller? Click here!

Are you a librarian? Click here!

X