George Bull was an author and journalist who translated six volumes for the Penguin Classics: Benvenuto Cellini’s Autobiography, The Book of the Courtier by Baldesar Castiglione, Giorgio Vasari’s Lives of the Artists(two volumes), The Princeby Machiavelli, and Pietro Aretino’s Selected Letters. He was also consultant editor to the Penguin Business Series. After studying history at Brasenose College, University of Oxford, George Bull worked for the Financial Times, McGraw-Hill World News, and for Directormagazine, of which he was editor in chief until 1984. His other books include Vatican Politics; Bid for Power (with Anthony Vice), a history of takeover bids; Renaissance Italy, a book for children; Venice: The Most Triumphant City; and Inside the Vatican.