A History of Venice

One of the best history reads I've ever experienced. Venice is a unique city in the world, for its culture and history. It was a Republic that lasted over 1000 years, had the most civilized and liberal constitution in the world during its whole existence, up until the creation of the United States of America. Venice truly was the "city on a hill", the light that shines in the darkness of Europe, where everywhere around her there was tyranny, fanaticism, intolerance and ignorance, Venice stood out from the crowd of nations, like a rare species out of its proper environment. And as a rare species we can study her too, like in a lab. Her long history can be easily contrasted to those of more orthodox nations of her time. Venice skipped altogether the feudal times. Watching her birth is like watching the United States being born, only over 700 years before. She didn't need any Independence War, had no civil war to lament, she went straight to business. She went straight to making herself an empire, a military and commercial world empire, out of the blue, like the US in the 19th century.She also avoided religious entanglements and wars. Fanaticism was not her thing. She was born free and lived free. She was the first ever free and independent state in the world. Ruled by a cultivated class, oligarchy, yes, but in the author's words, a remarkably broadly based one. A nation that was, and stood for a thousand years, way ahead of her time.Today we may think of Venice as beautiful place, we think of art. Well, that's all true, but that's the least important thing -in my opinion- about this remarkable city. Her beauty is only a symptom of her political stability and her talented citizenry throughout the ages. The Serenissima Republica is a political case to be studied and admired. The Old Lady died old, but what a life she had. Her story is told as beautifully as befits this wonderful city.

Lord Norwich has always been one of my favorite history authors. I really enjoyed his 3 volume History of The Eastern Roman Empire. As can be expected, he does not let the reader down here. The only fly in the ointment is that he does not cover the origins of Venice as well as he does later on. But considering that it was the time of the Dark Ages, this can be excused. (Especially with Attila the Hun running around the neighborhood literally. But then Attila in a way was the Father of Venice) As a there probadly were not a lot of records being kept and I am willing to bet that a lot of them were lost into the mist of History. Also I thought a few more maps & a time line should of been included in this book. But overall I thought it to be a great introduction to a City that is obiviously greatly loved by the Author. For a person who had only faintest knowledge of the City. I found it to be a very informative book about the Doges, The Battles, The Crusades and a wealth of some real characters. Altogether this book is well worth the time and coin.

(Arthur Glickman, please read this)The most boring type of history books I've ever read are history books that include the merchants, bankers, traders, craftsmen, and method of government; books from Yale are the worst, and don't get me wrong, I read them, but it is very difficult. How many history readers want to know about taxation, merchants, bankers, traders, and craftsmen? I don't and I only read such books when no other books are available to read; I submit that these academicians can't write history books for history buffs--they are merely academicians who write for other academicians: experts who write only for other experts to read and not the general public.This book covers history in an excellent manner and covers many time periods,which I find to be fascinating, and I've found that books that only cover a certain time period tend to be much more thorough than other books. Yes, the book stops coverage at 1807, but any history buff wouldn't mind that, due to knowing history after that time period. I have hundreds of history books, from Yale, Oxford, and from most publishers, and this book is excellent for what it is. If someone thinks this book is bad because the glory of Venice derives from it's businessmen, then why not acquire the history of the Medici family, or the Medici DVD, which are excellent? Criticism of this book is like saying that a glass that is half empty is only half empty; I say it is half full.

I've been researching the Venetian Empire for a novel I'm writing and have found this book to be an invaluable resource. While there may be other historians who have heaped upon us more detail, Norwich keeps the verbiage spare enough without sparing the important details.For example, while reading an exhaustive history of Venice, the author heaped detail after detail into his report. As I had already read Norwich's book, I knew the author was talking about the sack of Constantinople that occurred during the fourth Crusade. Norwich editorialized convincingly that this lay the groundwork for the conquest of Constantinople by the Turks. The author of the other history failed to comment about the fourth crusade.While I was hoping to find illumination of aspects of the history of the Rialto that I needed to understand, Norwich did light a flame upon much of this and informed me of many things I needed to know to provide me with the authenticity I seek in the writing of my novel.While Norwich's "A History of Venice" is not my only resource, I have come to rely on it as it has informed deeply my understanding of this, ignored in the United States, yet deeply important epoch whose repercussions echo in the affairs of men even today.

The history covers an enormous period but JJN writes with such great style and empathy that you are whisked along and caught up by his enthusiasm for the City.

If you have ever been to Venice and liked it (who wouldn't?) this is the book for you. It brings the city to life by populating its corners with intrigue, murder, real history and romances.

Lord Norwich one of the best narrative historians of his generation