The Tigress of Forli

Elizabeth Lev, an American-born Renaissance scholar then teaching at Duquesne University's Rome campus, made her debut as an author with this life of Caterina Sforza. Born out of wedlock to the Duke of Milan in 1463, Caterina was married at ten to the pope's nephew and drawn early into Italian intrigue. After years at the papal court she moved to Forlì, which she ruled after her husband's assassination. Married and widowed three times, she negotiated an alliance with Machiavelli early in his career and finally lost her lands to the Borgias. Lev also weighs a disputed siege legend, accepting Caterina's threat but rejecting the story that she lifted her skirts.

Robert Greene shared it on Instagram as one of a few favorite biographies from his reading for a new book.