The Loeb library is one of those stabbing pains I have whenever I think about paper books not being available as eBooks. Whenever I look at them in the Bookstore in Harvard Square I get frustrated. My first copy of the Iliad was a Loeb book. And when I discovered the The I Tatti Renaissance Library on the shelves I grew even sadder that there were no eBooks. My eBooks do look so wonderful on my iPad. Eventually they will be eBooks.
Since you're reading/own the renaissance books, have you gotten around to Burckhardt's The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy ? It's old(ish). Printed around 1860. But one of the most phenomenal books on the Italian Renaissance.
As for the Middle Sea. Yes. Not JJN's best work. Not as bad as Absolute Monarchs though. Yes, Venice and the Byzantium trilogy remain his best works. In my opinion.
About the Fourth Crusade being the lesser of two evils . . . the art and knowledge gained from the sack probably helped spur on the beginnings of the Renaissance in Italy. And as you say, better that the material wealth ended up in the Italian states than in the hands of the Ottomans.
Since you're reading/own the renaissance books, have you gotten around to Burckhardt's The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy ? It's old(ish). Printed around 1860. But one of the most phenomenal books on the Italian Renaissance.
As for the Middle Sea. Yes. Not JJN's best work. Not as bad as Absolute Monarchs though. Yes, Venice and the Byzantium trilogy remain his best works. In my opinion.
About the Fourth Crusade being the lesser of two evils . . . the art and knowledge gained from the sack probably helped spur on the beginnings of the Renaissance in Italy. And as you say, better that the material wealth ended up in the Italian states than in the hands of the Ottomans.
You did recommend The Middle Sea to me, I believe. I bought the history of Venice based on my enjoyment of his three-volume history of Byzantium.
On the point of Venetian history being fascinating, after finishing the book I immediately went online and ordered Pietro Bembo's History of Venice from amazon (the I Tatti Renaissance Library edition). I had bought so many Loeb Library books recently that I was buying some directly from Harvard University Press (amazon has some odd gaps in their Loeb offerings, even though they usually have a slight discount off the official Harvard price). While at their website, I stumbled on the Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library and the I Tatti Renaissance Library. Suffice it to say I now have 10 of the former and 12 of the latter.
I want to read more about the Venetian standpoint on the Fourth Crusade because Norwich agrees with us on the impact of the Fourth Crusade and is quite clear about it. I would like to hear some Venetian voice attempting to justify what they did (or, if even then they accepted that it was a terrible thing, a contemporary invective against the Venetian actions).
The entire affair is sickening, though the more I read the more I wonder if perhaps it wasn't the lesser evil - after all, it was likely that the Byzantine Empire would have fallen anyway, and at least the Venetians carted away a lot of priceless treasures intact, something the Turks would probably not have done (although they weren't as extreme as Saudis, even back then they might have destroyed objects they felt were blasphemous or in some way pagan). After all, what happened to the city in 1453 was worse than what happened in 1204 (I'm aware some modern scholars have contested this, but the vast majority of accounts talk about a catastrophe of murder, rape, arson, pillage and then the sale of survivors into slavery).
Either way, Venice did eventually preserve much of Greek culture and passed it along to the rest of the world through her wonderful printing industry.
Let me know if any of the more recent books are good - I find myself reading older sources rather than newer...
On the point of Venetian history being fascinating, after finishing the book I immediately went online and ordered Pietro Bembo's History of Venice from amazon (the I Tatti Renaissance Library edition). I had bought so many Loeb Library books recently that I was buying some directly from Harvard University Press (amazon has some odd gaps in their Loeb offerings, even though they usually have a slight discount off the official Harvard price). While at their website, I stumbled on the Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library and the I Tatti Renaissance Library. Suffice it to say I now have 10 of the former and 12 of the latter.
I want to read more about the Venetian standpoint on the Fourth Crusade because Norwich agrees with us on the impact of the Fourth Crusade and is quite clear about it. I would like to hear some Venetian voice attempting to justify what they did (or, if even then they accepted that it was a terrible thing, a contemporary invective against the Venetian actions).
The entire affair is sickening, though the more I read the more I wonder if perhaps it wasn't the lesser evil - after all, it was likely that the Byzantine Empire would have fallen anyway, and at least the Venetians carted away a lot of priceless treasures intact, something the Turks would probably not have done (although they weren't as extreme as Saudis, even back then they might have destroyed objects they felt were blasphemous or in some way pagan). After all, what happened to the city in 1453 was worse than what happened in 1204 (I'm aware some modern scholars have contested this, but the vast majority of accounts talk about a catastrophe of murder, rape, arson, pillage and then the sale of survivors into slavery).
Either way, Venice did eventually preserve much of Greek culture and passed it along to the rest of the world through her wonderful printing industry.
Let me know if any of the more recent books are good - I find myself reading older sources rather than newer...
A History of Venice by John Julius Norwich
- 29/12/2012 11:39:31 PM
926 Views
Was I the one who recommended this book to you?
- 30/12/2012 03:28:16 PM
679 Views
I bought this one sua sponte from the Folio Society.
- 30/12/2012 05:02:12 PM
740 Views
Ah.
- 31/12/2012 01:08:18 PM
779 Views
This is definitely on my list.
- 31/12/2012 07:01:05 PM
842 Views
The Fourth Crusade was a travesty for world civilization
- 31/12/2012 09:48:20 PM
732 Views
Ah, I see your point.
- 31/12/2012 10:58:33 PM
730 Views
Well, the Venetians weren't the ones doing the worst of the looting...
- 01/01/2013 07:36:49 AM
675 Views
It's extremely readable
- 03/01/2013 02:09:23 AM
652 Views
I don't doubt that he extrapolates a bit much
- 04/01/2013 03:48:28 AM
701 Views
I don't recall the specifics.
- 05/01/2013 03:49:26 AM
686 Views