A review by aloyokon
City of Fortune: How Venice Won and Lost a Naval Empire by Roger Crowley

An engaging story of the meteoric rise and fall of Venice's maritime empire. From its start in the Fourth Crusade, to its struggle with rival states like Genoa and its fight to maintain its trading posts in lands like Crete, to its decline in the face of the Ottoman threat, Crowley makes an engaging tale of a crucial aspect of medieval history.