The Pope's Rhinoceros

Lawrence Norfolk, Albrecht Durer

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English

Vintage
09 May 1997

Historical fiction

'Spell-binding entertainment, richly imagined, painstakingly researched, superbly paced and utterly gripping' - Michael Dibdin, Independent on Sunday

In February 1516, a Portugese ship sank with the loss of all hands a mile off the coast of Italy. The Nostra Senora da Adjuda had sailed 14000 miles from the Indian kingdom Gujarat- her mission, to deliver a rhinoceros to the Pope. The Pope's Rhinoceros tells the stories which culminate in this bizarre incident. Ranging from the Baltic Sea to a flyblown colony in India, from a tribe hidden in the African rain forest to atrocities committed in an obscure town in Tuscany, Norfolk's brilliant novel holds up the true history of the rhinoceros as a mirror to the fantasies and obsessions of the Renaissance.

By: Lawrence Norfolk
Illustrated by: Albrecht Durer
Imprint: Vintage
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Edition: New edition
Dimensions: Height: 198mm, Width: 129mm, Spine: 33mm
Weight: 532g
ISBN: 9780749398743
ISBN 10: 0749398744
Pages: 768
Publication Date: 09 May 1997
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Lawrence Norfolk was born in London in 1963. He has written four novels of historical fiction.

Reviews for The Pope's Rhinoceros

This is as Gargantuan, intriguing and impressive as the title's beast, around which so many legends cluster. A read which I imagine must compare with the very best of Renaissance feasts for length, variety and its unexpected mix of flavours. This rollicking historical novel explores the events leading up to the sinking of a Portuguese ship off the coast of Italy in 1516, on its way to deliver a rhinoceros to Pope Leo X. Salvestro, the hero, is caught up in a mission to Rome by a sect of secretive monks from a Baltic island, their first pilgrimage in 200 years. Review by TIM SEVERIN (Kirkus UK)