This is a History of Venice, starting with frightened refugees from the barbarian invasions of Italy settling in a marshy lagoon, and continuing through the establishment of republican government and the building of a trading empire encompassing the Dalmatian Coast, Mediterranean Islands and parts of the Po Valley.
Then, with the Portuguese establishing a more direct trade route to the originating locations of valued Asian goods, it continues with the reinvention of the city into a publishing, intellectual, and finally a pleasure center.
Norwich comments, "[a]s a work of art, we must frankly admit, the bridge lacks distinction ... Its very familiarity blinds us to its faults — the poor proportions, the curious air of topheaviness, the coarseness of the detail."
The New York Times reviewer Luigi Barzini opined: "Viscount Norwich has written a living book, which will surely last a long time in print – a book full of blood, naval battles, sieges, adventures, conquests, strokes of luck, stupendous defeats, glorious victories, secret plots, counterplots and astute diplomatic negotiations, together with sharp profiles of the protagonists, whether heroes or villains.
"[1] Kirkus Reviews wrote, "What you will find ... is chattily readable prose, a dry sense of humor ("Eunuchs, as everybody knows, are dangerous people to cross"), and the author's engagingly qualified admiration for the Venetians--their unflagging self-interest, their state-imposed discipline, their secular, non-intellectual activism, their flexible ability to live more or less under a constitution for centuries.