How could a lowly Florentine preacher almost singlehandedly overthrow the mighty Medici family at the height of the Italian Renaissance and unleash the Bonfire of Vanities that consigned priceless paintings, books, and jewelry to flames? Historian Janna Bianchini tells the story of the impassioned Girolamo Savonarola’s unexpected rise; his domination of the city as the head of a ruthless theocracy; and his meteoric fall.