Fifteenth-century Italy. The Renaissance is in full swing, heralding a new golden age for Europe. But where there is gold – and power – there are those who are willing to do anything to get their hands on them.

Enter the Borgias. Headed by Rodrigo Borgia, better known as Pope Alexander VI, this tight-knit family is fighting to keep its iron grip on Italy – but theirs is a lethal game, and the cost of failure is surely death.

Scheming and plotting for their own ends are his children: Giovanni, the much-favoured golden boy; his younger brother Cesare, jealous and vicious; and Lucrezia, cunning, calculating and passionate. The Borgias face immense opposition from all quarters of Italy, but their deadliest foes may be far closer to home.

Mario Gianluigi Puzo (October 15, 1920 July 2, 1999) was a two time Academy Award-winning Italian American author and screenwriter, known for his novels about the Mafia, especially The Godfather (1969), which he later co-adapted into a film with Francis Ford Coppola.