The story of the Renaissance city and the palace of Urbino, and the life of the exceptional man who created it: Federico da Montefeltro. The one-eyed mercenary soldier Federico da Montefeltro, lord of Urbino from 1444 to 1482, was one of the most successful condottieri of the Italian Renaissance: a renowned humanist, patron of the artist Piero della Francesca, and creator of one of the most famous libraries in Italy outside the Vatican. In the splendid palace he built overlooking Urbino, Federico gathered a court that is considered by many to represent a pinnacle of Renaissance culture. Jane Stevenson's tender account of the rise and fall of Urbino sheds light on paternal relationships, politics, and humanism in 15th-century Italy. It also includes the stories of Federico and his successors of Montefeltro and della Rovere, while examining in detail Federico's cultural heritage - exploring the palace, the splendor of the ducal library, and his other architectural works in Gubbio and elsewhere.