About the Author

Frederic C. Lane (1900-1984) was a noted maritime historian of medieval and Renaissance Venice. Among his many books are Venetian Ships and Shipbuilders of the Renaissance and Venice, A Maritime Republic.

Reviews

Students now have an analysis of Venice's fortunes over the whole course of its independent history that they can trust... A crisp and clearly visualized narrative. Times Literary Supplement The best one-volume history of Venice in any language. American Historical Review An up-to-date and comprehensive history of Venice has long been needed, and Professor Lane, as the doyen of historians of Venice, was the obvious man to supply it. -- J.H. Elliott New York Review of Books Frederic Lane has achieved what is the often unfulfilled dream of every historian who has devoted his entire work to the exploration of partial aspects of a single broad subject: he has given us a comprehensive, thoughtful, readable, beautifully illustrated general history of Venice from the origins to the beginning of decline. Speculum