La Serenissima: The Story of Venice

by Jonathan Keates

A stunningly illustrated history of Venice, from its beginnings as 'La Serenissima' – 'the Most Serene Republic' – to the Italian city that continues to enchant visitors today.

'Everything about Venice,' observed Lord Byron, 'is, or was, extraordinary – her aspect is like a dream, and her history is like a romance.' Dream and romance have conditioned myriad encounters with Venice across the centuries, but the city's story embodies another kind of experience altogether – the hard reality of an independent state built on conquest, profit and entitlement and on the toughness and resilience of a free people. Masters of the sea, the Venetians raised an empire through an ethos of service and loyalty to a republic that lasted a thousand years.

In this new study of key moments in Venice's history, from its half-legendary founding amid the collapse of the Roman empire to its modern survival as a fragile city of the arts menaced by saturation tourism and rising sea levels, Jonathan Keates shows us just how much this remarkable place has contributed to world culture and explains how it endures as an object of desire and inspiration for so many.

Genres: History, Italy, Nonfiction, European History

432 pages, Paperback

First published November 10, 2022

About the author

Jonathan Keates, is an English writer, biographer, novelist and Chairman of the Venice in Peril Fund. Keates was educated at Bryanston School and went on to read for his undergraduate degree at Magdalen College, Oxford.

Reviews

['Aussie Rick' · Rating 4 out of 5]

"La Serenissima: The Story of Venice" by Jonathan Keates is a book of 478 pages (2022 hardback edition) that is a joy to read. It has four maps (two of double page spread) and is full of colour prints and photographs. Nearly every third or fourth page has a colour print or photograph (some are double spread pages) of something relevant to the narrative. Pictures of people, places and events from the history of Venice are literally scattered throughout the book.

The story itself is a general historical overview of Venice, from its beginnings as a refuge from the invasions of the Goths and later the Huns, to its gradual spread to become a maritime empire in the surrounding region. Then we follow the story of its inevitable decline as it struggles during numerous conflicts to retain its failing empire. This is not a detailed history of Venice but an interesting and enjoyable account of La Serenissima (the Most Serene) providing snapshots of the Republic's history that come together to provide a very decent overview of the place and its people.

This is the sort of book that you should read before visiting Venice, not only is it a rewarding experience to read but it’s a lavish feast for the eyes. I have so many places listed to visit that I know I am not going to be able to fit everything in on my first visit. I will need to search out for one of the “Bocche dei Leone” (lion's mouth):

https://imagesofvenice.com/mouths-of-...

Another icon to keep an eye out for - Lucia Rossi and her role in stopping the Bajamonte Tiepolo plot to depose Doge Pietro Gradenigo:

https://veneziaautentica.com/the-repu...

There are just too many places and churches mentioned in this book that interested me to mention here, best read the book and find out where you want to go and what you want to see for yourself.

Overall, I would highly recommend this book for anyone who enjoys a good historical narrative or for anyone planning to visit Venice in the near future, I don't think you would be disappointed.

[Sara Raftery · Rating 2 out of 5]

Feels like a lecture from a tenured professor who is so knowledgeable about their field of study that they've lost perspective on what's important for beginners. The pre-1797 material, while strictly chronological, is both rambling and heavily focused on military history. Characters are introduced for a chapter during which they are discussed as though we know them well and understand various references about them, and then largely disappear. The author often uses quotes in Latin or other Romance languages without translating them. I skimmed heavily for awhile.

The post-1797 material is pretty good, in particular how it highlights that the problems Venice faces today are the same problems it has been facing since the 19th century, and that there have never really been good solutions put forth for them. Two stars for that. Basically no stars for pre-1797.

[Nikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty classical, chronological 'names and dates' history of Venice. The book itself is beautiful, with a great lay-out and plenty of illustrations.

[Garrett Becker · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up on a whim at Libreria Acqua Alta in Venice because this looked like a great historical overview of the city, and I loved Venice while I was there. Didn’t know anything about this book before buying which is a risk I know - and it didn’t completely pay off. There was a lot of interesting stuff here that more or less kept me going. But I did not enjoy his pretentious writing style and that he assumed you knew about the people and references he was making throughout. This is probably a great history of Venice for people who are already largely familiar with key events and people and are ready to dig into more detail, but not as much for those like me who don’t know as much beforehand.

[Daniel Gusev · Rating 5 out of 5]

A 6 out of 5. Carrying a multifaceted perspective from a superb intellectual on the origins and numerous paths of the Serene Republic.

A dazzling cocktail of names, places, multilingual sources titillating one’s senses, the book is sometimes challenging to digest - one being handicapped in relation to the author - the climb is still a rewarding one.

A book I chose to retrace a brief personal introduction with the place, it now prompts a revisit.

[ErnstG]

My parents believed that history was intrinsically interesting, which I agree with. They went further and thought that anybody who could make it boring deserved a prize. A pity they died before I could recommend this to them.

This book contains a lot of information, and the author clearly knows his stuff. It might even be correct, as the reviewer said who was quoted on the back page, that he loves the city. So I bought it to prepare for a holiday in Venice. I'll dip into it again on the plane.

[Miriam Bachman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect if you like reading about a place when you travel there. Speedy at times but he's covering a thousand or so years of history in 400 pages. My one minus is the Shakespeare theory just isn't backed up by much.

[Edoardo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Keates really loves Venice. Maybe this sometimes does not help providing a deeper and more inaightful view on the complexity of this unique city history.

[Caroline Duggan · Rating 4 out of 5]

An unexpectedly delightful read. It reminded me of how precarious Venice's position has always been, even when at the height of its powers as a Mediterranean empire. How its unique position, its light, its beauty, its love of ceremony, inevitably turned it into the living museum it sadly is today. I loved the way the author braided together stories of action, adventure, politics, art and ordinary people in each chapter so that the ultimate connectedness of Venice's story was foregrounded and it never felt like a 'text book'. My only complaint is that having read the paperback, the analysis of paintings and buildings was not accompanied by the visual sources; whereas the hard back is illustrated throughout.
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