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kwheeles's review against another edition
4.0
Entertaining read. Like all of Crowley's stuff I have read so far, it reads like a novel - plenty of individual stories, human interest, interesting facts. Venice pioneered being a maritime empire (and all that went with it).
heritage's review against another edition
4.0
The focus of this book is primarily on Venice's empire. It does not concern itself much with the city proper or the life therein. Not really until the empire is well into decline does the city get much discussion--probably because there's less and less empire remaining to write about.
The book deals mostly with the 13th to 16th centuries. The story of Venice is quite fascinating, even if you disagree with the approach the city took regarding trade and their policy towards other countries. Much of the discussion is about Constantinople, Crete, Negroponte, the Black Sea, the spice trade, the Genoese, the Mongols, the Mamluks, and the Ottomans. The best part of the book for me was how the Venetians lost modern-day Euboea to the Ottomans at what has come to be known as the Siege of Negroponte. That lesson--coupled with the following defeat at the Battle of Zonchio--is worth the read alone.
The writing style is very approachable, and the information never gets bogged down. It's a relatively short book, so perhaps it could have been expanded a bit more, but that may have turned off more casual readers. However, because it deals so little with the actual city of Venice, it may not be the best place to start reading about the history of Venice (unless you know you're specifically interested in their overseas holdings). It would make a good second book to read about Venice, though.
The book deals mostly with the 13th to 16th centuries. The story of Venice is quite fascinating, even if you disagree with the approach the city took regarding trade and their policy towards other countries. Much of the discussion is about Constantinople, Crete, Negroponte, the Black Sea, the spice trade, the Genoese, the Mongols, the Mamluks, and the Ottomans. The best part of the book for me was how the Venetians lost modern-day Euboea to the Ottomans at what has come to be known as the Siege of Negroponte. That lesson--coupled with the following defeat at the Battle of Zonchio--is worth the read alone.
The writing style is very approachable, and the information never gets bogged down. It's a relatively short book, so perhaps it could have been expanded a bit more, but that may have turned off more casual readers. However, because it deals so little with the actual city of Venice, it may not be the best place to start reading about the history of Venice (unless you know you're specifically interested in their overseas holdings). It would make a good second book to read about Venice, though.