The #1 New York Times Bestseller

‘Walter Isaacson is not an art historian, he’s simply a lover of Leonardo, who manages to communicate the sheer joy of this remarkable man’
Books of the Year – The Times

‘Walter Isaacson keeps the mortal man to the fore. For all his supernatural gifts as an artist and natural scientist. Leonardo was resolutely human (illegitimate, vegan, in need of patrons) rather than the near deity of legend. Isaacson is an assured guide to Leonardo’s fallibility – so many projects started, so few completed – as well as his extraordinary curiosity and his even more remarkable painterly skills that were sharpened by intense observation.’ Michael Prodger, Books of the Year – The Sunday Times

‘Infinitely curious, easily distracted, vain and vegetarian, Leonardo is brought to vivid life in this accomplished biography.’ – The SundayTimes.

‘an illuminating guide to the output of one of the last millennium’s greatest minds.’ – The Observer

‘Isaacson doesn’t claim to make any fresh discoveries, but his book is intelligently organised, simply written and beautifully illustrated.’ Book of the Day, The Guardian.

‘Isaacson’s scholarship is impressive―he cites not only primary sources but secondary materials by art critics, essayists, and da Vinci’s other biographers. This is a monumental tribute to a titanic figure.’ – Publisher’s Weekly

“A powerful story of an exhilarating mind and life…a study in creativity: how to define it, how to achieve it.”―The New Yorker

“Vigorous, insightful.”―The Washington Post

“A masterpiece.”―San Francisco Chronicle

“Luminous.”―The Daily Beast