Great book. The story of Venice is one-of-a-kind and Crowley brings all of the naval battles and political intrigue to life seemingly effortlessly. I will never forget his account of the sack of Constantinople. Venice was full of contradictions: it was surrounded by water but suffered from a shortage of safe drinking water; it went to aid the Catholic Church many times at its own expense yet was looked down upon by the Pope and other Christian nations; the merchant city was so serious and yet the buildings and canals looked like they were plucked out of a dream world. Crowley put a lot of work into understanding not just Venetian history but the Venetian psyche as well. I learned so much from this book and highly recommend it.