The Siege Of Venice
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Vintage
Published:4th May '06
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
![The Siege Of Venice cover](https://cdn.theportobellobookshop.com/img/9780712673693.jpg)
A detailed, vivid and passionate account of the glory and sacrifice of Venice in 1848. Illuminating, exciting and profoundly moving.
The siege of Venice, in 1848, is one of history's most thrilling and tragic episodes. Focusing on it, this book presents a story that embraces the wider world of the revolutionary Italy of Garibaldi, Mazzini, and Pope Pius IX, its battles, its dreams, and its wild zigzags between hope and despair.
The siege of Venice in 1848 is one of history's most thrilling and tragic episodes. After half a century of Habsburg imperial rule, the Venetians drove out the occupying army and established their own republic. Led by the Jewish lawyer Daniele Manin, a man of immense courage and personal integrity, they embraced the lofty values of the Risorgimento, Italy's struggle for national unity, freedom and justice. When the Austrians returned with a massive army, intent on recapturing Venice, Manin rejected their surrender demands. The city braced itself for a siege lasting more than a year, ending only when bombardment, cholera and starvation made further resistance impossible.
This epic story, in Jonathan Keates's gripping and meticulously-researched account, embraces the wider world of the revolutionary Italy of Garibaldi, Mazzini and Pope Pius IX, warrior priests, militant actresses, death-or-glory poets, a Mata Hari-type siren spy and a rebel princess. At the centre of the whole crowded canvas, however, stand the truest heroes of all - the people of Venice. Their grit, humour and endurance, under a hail of bombs and a tide of blood sweeping across their once peaceful lagoon, make The Siege of Venice a profoundly touching and unforgettable book.
Majestic... Tremendous -- Jan Morris * New Statesman *
Enthralling... constantly gripping * Sunday Telegraph *
A beautifully paced and meticulously detailed narrative... unlikely to be bettered -- John Adamson * Literary Review *
Brilliant and profoundly researched -- Edward Pearce * Herald *
A wonderfully vivid evocation of genuine heroism and pathos * Times Literary Supplement *
ISBN: 9780712673693
Dimensions: 198mm x 129mm x 32mm
Weight: 3625g
528 pages