Tolomeo Fiadoni (more commonly referred to as Ptolemy of Lucca in English) was a remarkable early fourteenth-century thinker, a pre-humanist, a defender of republican government and an ardent supporter of the papacy. Until recently, however, there has been little in the way of a comprehensive study of his life. James Blythe has provided a much needed remedy for this situation with his two-volume investigation of Tolomeo's life and thought, the first book-length treatment of Tolomeo since the nineteenth century. In The life and works of Tolomeo Fiadoni, Blythe reconstructs Tolomeo's biography, to the extent that available sources allow, correcting commonly held misconceptions, including the belief that Ptolemy must have been a student of Thomas Aquinas at the University of Paris. Blythe then provides succinct discussions of each of Tolomeo's major works. Since Tolomeo was a thinker who spanned many different fields of inquiry, the latter is particularly helpful to scholars who wish to familiarise themselves with Tolomeo's work outside their own field. In The worldview and thought of Tolomeo Fiadoni, Blythe analyses Tolomeo's thought (and particularly his political and social thought) in the broader context of his ideas on God, the universe and human nature. Tolomeo was a complex, and, at times, a contradictory thinker, and Blythe does his best to bring out the nuances of his work. Tolomeo's writings show a deep appreciation for the value of political life and the virtues it can inculcate, yet Ptolemy is still fully steeped in the traditions of medieval Christendom. He advocates participation by all classes in the government of the city, yet remains a firm supporter of the pope's monarchic rule over the Catholic Church and the Church's superiority to any secular government. Blythe does not attempt to force Tolomeo into a single modern pigeon hole of ‘republican,’ ‘humanist’ or ‘papalist’. Instead, he presents the ambiguities of Tolomeo's thought and leaves the reader to make his or her own judgement as to whether the resulting system of thought is sufficiently coherent. The worldview and thought of Tolomeo Fiadoni ends with a discussion of why, despite his remarkable contributions to the development of civic humanism and the modern notion of republicanism, Tolomeo is still a rarely studied figure. Blythe contends (and I agree with him) that Tolomeo played a critical role in the development of ideas about government, being perhaps, the first figure to use the term ‘republican’ in its modern sense. Perhaps this new study will help scholars across disciplines to become familiar with this interesting and highly complex medieval thinker.