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rnyr's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
informative
slow-paced
4.75
A magisterial history of Venice, by one of the all-time great 20th century historians.
clarkmj1's review against another edition
5.0
John Julius writes old-school narrative history. Simple.
But, he writes it better than almost anyone else, with his magical ability to condense and reveal a complex situation with an elegant turn of phrase.
Personally I read him as much for the joy of his writing as for the historical knowledge transmitted.
If you want a grasp of the full narrative story of Venice form start to finish- I doubt you will do better.
But, he writes it better than almost anyone else, with his magical ability to condense and reveal a complex situation with an elegant turn of phrase.
Personally I read him as much for the joy of his writing as for the historical knowledge transmitted.
If you want a grasp of the full narrative story of Venice form start to finish- I doubt you will do better.
joecaratenuto's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
lighthearted
relaxing
slow-paced
4.0
jhouses's review against another edition
4.0
Una obra monumental que se hace difícil de leer por su profundidad y extensión pero que sabe recompensar al lector tenaz con un glorioso fresco de la historia europea desde la caida de Roma hasta las campañas de Napoleón. Culto hasta rozar la pedantería (pero sin llegar a ella), la muy británica voz de Norwich con sus opiniones y sus juicios made in oxbridge nos guía desde la fundación de la República hasta su caída a manos de Bonaparte permitiendonos recorrer con conocimiento los históricos rincones de Venecia. La mejor guía de Viaje sin serlo y una lástima que no me la haya podido acabar hasta un mes de volver de Venecia.
No tiene Dragones pero no le tiene nada que envidiar a [b:Fire & Blood|39943621|Fire & Blood (A Targaryen History #1)|George R.R. Martin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1532828095l/39943621._SY75_.jpg|61841009] de [a:George R.R. Martin|346732|George R.R. Martin|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1563055799p2/346732.jpg] en intrigas, guerras y traiciones.
PAX TIBI MARCE EVANGELISTA MEUS
No tiene Dragones pero no le tiene nada que envidiar a [b:Fire & Blood|39943621|Fire & Blood (A Targaryen History #1)|George R.R. Martin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1532828095l/39943621._SY75_.jpg|61841009] de [a:George R.R. Martin|346732|George R.R. Martin|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1563055799p2/346732.jpg] en intrigas, guerras y traiciones.
PAX TIBI MARCE EVANGELISTA MEUS
_maia3_'s review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
4.5
I enjoyed the book - I cannot speak as anything more than an amateur, but I enjoyed the inclusion of translated and untranslated sources, as well as links to still-standing buildings in Venice. However, I would have liked more references to sources as sometimes Lord Norwich will offhandedly mention his source, which will not only surprise me, but also make me question the where all the other information was coming from. Highly recommend!
siria's review against another edition
4.0
This book is another prime example of why Lord Norwich is one of my favourite current popular historians, and though a smaller work, is just as much of an achievement as his monumental History of Byzantium. Even though his book runs to something a little less than a page for each year of the existence of Venice as an independent city state, he still manages to cover in detail the sometimes tortuous twists and turns of Venetian politics with clarity and skill - there is no confusion between the four Doges who gloried in the name of Alvise Mocenigo, for example. Where Lord Norwich really comes into his own, however, is in his keen and sympathetic understanding of human nature, and the dry wit he likes to use when talking about this. When the history of a state is as complicated and as full of unexpected shifts as Venice's is, that really is a welcome asset.
The only slight complaints I would have with the book is that it focuses on the political and economic at the expense of the social and artistic. However, in fairness, Norwich does try to include some of the major artistic and social events when they bear on the events that he describes, and he does state - with a great amount of truth - that to have included all those things would have doubled, if not trebled, the size of an already large book. Another little niggling flaw is the tendency to include pieces from the original sources, but not always to translate them. While I have no problem with the French, I am really not able to puzzle my way through anything more than the most basic of basic inscriptions in Latin or Italian. I am aware this is a horrendous failing for a student of classical archaeology, but unfortunately I have neither the time nor the money required to take on an extra diploma so that I can learn Latin - certainly not in the near future, anyway. I'm always a little irked by the tendency of some historians to presume that anyone reading their work will have the ability to learn Latin - not everyone interested in history has that opportunity - and I would like to see that corrected.
Still, all in all, an excellent book, and an excellent scholarly work, and one that I am sure will become the standard English-language history of Venice.
The only slight complaints I would have with the book is that it focuses on the political and economic at the expense of the social and artistic. However, in fairness, Norwich does try to include some of the major artistic and social events when they bear on the events that he describes, and he does state - with a great amount of truth - that to have included all those things would have doubled, if not trebled, the size of an already large book. Another little niggling flaw is the tendency to include pieces from the original sources, but not always to translate them. While I have no problem with the French, I am really not able to puzzle my way through anything more than the most basic of basic inscriptions in Latin or Italian. I am aware this is a horrendous failing for a student of classical archaeology, but unfortunately I have neither the time nor the money required to take on an extra diploma so that I can learn Latin - certainly not in the near future, anyway. I'm always a little irked by the tendency of some historians to presume that anyone reading their work will have the ability to learn Latin - not everyone interested in history has that opportunity - and I would like to see that corrected.
Still, all in all, an excellent book, and an excellent scholarly work, and one that I am sure will become the standard English-language history of Venice.