A spellbinding new portrait of one of the world s most beloved cities, from the author of "Istanbul" "La Serenissima." Its breathtaking architecture, art, and opera ensure that Venice remains a perennially popular destination for tourists and armchair travelers alike. Yet most of the available books about this magical city are either facile travel guides or fusty academic tomes. In "Venice," renowned historian Thomas F. Madden draws on new research to explore the city s many astonishing achievements and to set 1,500 years of Venetian history and the endless Venetian-led Crusades in the context of the ever-shifting Eurasian world. Filled with compelling insights and famous figures, "Venice" is a monumental work of popular history that s as opulent and entertaining as the great city itself."