During the Renaissance, many writers were authoring "how-to" books. At the same time, mail correspondence was the main form of communication. This gives readers and historians the golden opportunity to perform some comparisons, and to paint a picture of what life was like in the renaissance. In The Book of the Family Leon Battista Alberti illustrates to his readers through dialogue, his vision of the perfect family. Alberti wrote his book in dialogue form, featuring the elder Giannozzo conversing with the young Leonardo. They discuss important family topics such as thrift, friendship, work, health, housing, economics, children and how and whom to choose as a wife. Alberti stresses thrift with family resources and money, hard work in the right field for the family, and a wife that conforms to his ideas of virtue and duty. In the letters of Alessandra Strozzi, readers chronicle her communication with her family...