This is a far more dense and serious study of the Borgias than Hibbert's book, which was still fun and informative. It's pretty fair-minded, acknowledging when the Borgias may well be the victims of reputational smears while also not shying away from how utterly ruthless and brutal they could be. Overall, I think Strathern does a better job than Hibbert of contextualizing the political landscape of Renaissance-era Italy and how astute Rodrigo and Cesare Borgia were in navigating and manipulating it.