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Genoa, 'La Superba': The Rise and Fall of a Merchant Pirate Superpower
Genoa has an incredible story to tell. It rose from an obscurity imposed by its harsh geography to become a merchant-pirate superpower that helped create the medieval world. It fought bitter battles with its great rival Venice and imprisoned Marco Polo, as the feuding city-states connected Europe to the glories of the East. It introduced the Black Death to Europe, led the fight against the Barbary Corsairs, bankrolled Imperial Spain, and gave the world Christopher Columbus and a host of fearless explorers. Genoa and Liguria provided the brains and the heroism behind the Risorgimento, and was the last place emigrants saw before building new lives across the Atlantic. It played host to writers and Grand Tourists, gave football to the Italians, and helped build modern Italy. Today, along with the glorious Riviera coast of Liguria, Genoa provides some of the finest places on earth to sip wine, eat pesto and enjoy spectacular views. This book brings the past to life and paints a portrait of a modern port city and region that is only now coming to terms with a past that is as bloody, fascinating and influential as any in Europe.
218 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 1, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
February 7, 2016
My one complaint about this book is that it's not especially well written, or organised. I hope there's a revision somewhere down the line - with more pictures. (Why are travel writers so averse to plentiful photos?) It's the range of subjects, time periods and the enthusiasm for the place that wins you over. As the author points out, Genoa isn't part of the 'Theme Park Italy' package. It's not ever going to be top of the list for tourists. Like Marseilles or Liverpool, it's a port city with an earned reputation for toughness and a darker side. Yet there's also such an abundance of magic and mystery, of high art and low culture, vertiginous corners, claustrophobic alleys, heavy industry and serene secret places, all in a very real, unpretentious working city. Whether you have visited or not, this book guides you around many of the harder to find wonders en route to the grand and spectacular.
November 5, 2022
The subtitle of this book - 'The Rise and Fall of a Merchant Pirate Superpower' - suggests that the reader will come to understand the history of how Genoa rose to be a superpower, how trade and piracy contributed to that and why the city declined. It is extremely misleading. The book skims over the surface of history without sufficient detail to build this understanding and without any real examination of the cause and effect which would make the history interesting. As such, it was a disappointment for me as I bought it based on the expectations built into this subtitle.
The book is much more a thematic exploration of the author's love affair with his adopted home. The strengths are the anecdotes, which are old with a journalistic eye for human interest and quirky details. The author relates his personal experiences with places and characters and ties these back to elements of the city's history. The writing is fluid and rich in description. The organisation, however, is typical of many journalists who choose to write a book. It is more of a set of articles strung together than it is a coherent narrative. While many of the chapters are enjoyable to read in their own right, the connections between them are not obvious and, in fact, become more and more random as the book progresses. Towards the end, the reader feels the only connection goes something like ' Oh yeah, and they love soccer in Genoa...' or something along those lines.
On the positive side, on top of the richly descriptive writing, the author's genuine love of this city, its history and its people shines through. While I did not get what I was looking for from the book, I did finish it with a genuine desire to visit the city of Genoa.
The book is much more a thematic exploration of the author's love affair with his adopted home. The strengths are the anecdotes, which are old with a journalistic eye for human interest and quirky details. The author relates his personal experiences with places and characters and ties these back to elements of the city's history. The writing is fluid and rich in description. The organisation, however, is typical of many journalists who choose to write a book. It is more of a set of articles strung together than it is a coherent narrative. While many of the chapters are enjoyable to read in their own right, the connections between them are not obvious and, in fact, become more and more random as the book progresses. Towards the end, the reader feels the only connection goes something like ' Oh yeah, and they love soccer in Genoa...' or something along those lines.
On the positive side, on top of the richly descriptive writing, the author's genuine love of this city, its history and its people shines through. While I did not get what I was looking for from the book, I did finish it with a genuine desire to visit the city of Genoa.
October 7, 2024
Such a shame that given the lack of books on Genoa in English that the task was given to a former BBC journalist and member of the European Council on Foreign Relations. It filled in a few points of older history but didn't tell hardly anything worth knowing of more recent times. Also there was nothing original in exploration of place. The fascinating political and social history of the 20th Century was almost absent. The 2001 G8 events were liquidated in about half a paragraph in a chapter on pesto. I don't even think the great anti-fascist insurrection in 1960 was even mentioned. The 3 page bibliography section was almost entirely of books in English. It seems that he hasn't read anything of so many great writers and poets linked to the city. Says little about the many cantautore linked to the Genoa School, I don't think he even mentions Lisetta Carmi who portrayed the city so brilliantly through her photography, nothing either about the many artists linked to the city (Genoa was in many ways the birthplace of the arte povera movement. The book really is so very pedestrian. If you want a good writer who writes in English on the city try the poet Julian Stannard instead. And then try to find translations of Dino Campana, Giorgio Caproni, Eugenio Montale, Edoardo Sanguinetti, Edoardo Firpo etc. Also if there is a translation of Andre Frenaud's The Silence of Genova read that too. Genoa dearly needs a celebration of the city but this is sadly not it.
March 17, 2024
Acho que este livro não pretende ser uma história rigorosa de Gênova, mas sim algo entre uma grande reportagem e um livro de viagens.
O autor é claramente apaixonado pela cidade e parece ter sido guiado pela ideia de que, apesar de não fazer parte do "parque temático da Itália", La Superba é um tesouro semidesconhecido para os amantes da história, da gastronomia, do futebol e sobretudo do mar.
Walton não doura a pílula: fala abertamente sobre o passado de pirataria, escravidão, cruzadas e guerras da cidade. A rivalidade com Veneza é um dos pontos centrais do livro, e evidentemente da história de Gênova. Mas meus capítulos preferidos são os do meio para o final, quando o autor aborda os temas da indústria naval (o famoso naufrágio do transatlântico Andrea Doria, por exemplo) e a rivalidade entre os clubes Sampdoria e Genoa.
Senti falta de um aprofundamento sobre os grandes cantautores da cidade, como o meu ídolo Fabrizio de André. Mas, em todo caso, é um ótimo livro, escrito com paixão, mas sem deixar de lado o cuidado com a história. Adorei.
O autor é claramente apaixonado pela cidade e parece ter sido guiado pela ideia de que, apesar de não fazer parte do "parque temático da Itália", La Superba é um tesouro semidesconhecido para os amantes da história, da gastronomia, do futebol e sobretudo do mar.
Walton não doura a pílula: fala abertamente sobre o passado de pirataria, escravidão, cruzadas e guerras da cidade. A rivalidade com Veneza é um dos pontos centrais do livro, e evidentemente da história de Gênova. Mas meus capítulos preferidos são os do meio para o final, quando o autor aborda os temas da indústria naval (o famoso naufrágio do transatlântico Andrea Doria, por exemplo) e a rivalidade entre os clubes Sampdoria e Genoa.
Senti falta de um aprofundamento sobre os grandes cantautores da cidade, como o meu ídolo Fabrizio de André. Mas, em todo caso, é um ótimo livro, escrito com paixão, mas sem deixar de lado o cuidado com a história. Adorei.
May 18, 2018
Not bad as an introduction to Genova. It's short and therefore far from definitive, but it touches the main bases. I couldn't really get excited about some of the historical stuff: the crusades, the Middle Ages, piracy and trading routes, etc. It was a bit dry and uninvolving. Far better were the modern day sections where the author had some direct personal connection with what he was describing
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August 21, 2025Not the thorough historical account the cover suggests - each chapter is reasonably self-contained and the cycle through or combine recent history, the arc of piracy in the region, the Genovese spirit, football, boats etc. in a thoroughly entertaining way. A nice balance of the ground level and the long view, and charmingly written.
July 31, 2017
A good summary of the history of a naval superpower. It doesn't have the same bite as a Norwich title.
January 10, 2019
Really good read. Now I can’t wait to go to Genoa.
March 30, 2023
As others have noted, this is as much or even more about the author's experiences in modern Genoa than the history of the city. Enjoyable and informative - especially if you're planning on visiting Genoa - but not really the history work it purports to be.
October 10, 2016
Great for providing some historical context before a vacation to Genova!
April 25, 2017
A colorful and intimate look at the history and culture of Genoa, Italy's "other" great republic - from piracy to pesto
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews