As a cultural movement, the Italian Renaissance affected only a small part of the population. Italy was the most urbanized region of Europe, but three quarters of the people were still rural peasants. For this section of the population, life remained essentially unchanged from the Middle Ages.
Although I enjoyed the book, The Hellbound Heart, the movie version, Hellraiser - with the awesomely cheesy blue and yellow 80's FX - is a bit better and mainly because it was more fully realized.
âRunning Through the Ages. Edward S. Searâs book is a chronological description of the history of running. It is a general description and a very good place to start research. The pertinent parts to the popularization of running in America are Chapters 5-7. The book itself is rather lengthy so it is best for the researcher to begin on page 80. Chapter 5 is the âGolden Age of Pros and the Rise of Amateurs,â chapter 6 describes the period of 1900-1950 in âModern Running Goes Worldwide,â and Chapter 7 finishes with âThe Modern Superstars 1950-2000.â