Venice

Joanne M. Ferraro is Professor and Chair of History at San Diego State University. She is the author of Family and Public Life in Brescia, 1580–1650: The Foundations of Power in the Venetian State (Cambridge, 1993); Marriage Wars in Late Renaissance Venice (2001), which was awarded best book from the Society for the Study of Early Modern Women and the Helen and Howard R. Marraro Prize in Italian History; and Nefarious Crimes, Contested Justice: Illicit Sex and Infanticide in the Republic of Venice, 1557–1789 (2008).

'This is the best book written to date on the Venetian Republic … In the future, when people want to learn about Venice's history, they'll turn to this book first.' Library Journal

• Preface; Chronology of historical events; Chronology of architecture, art, literature, and music; 1. Reconstructing the floating city; 2. The riches of Asia, Europe, and North Africa; 3. A pride of lions; 4. Identities and modes of socialization; 5. Material life; 6. City of myth; 7. The Serenissima's wayward subjects; 8. The baroque stage; 9. Epilogue: the tides of change; Appendices.