Venice - Garry Wills

At the dawn of the second millennium, Venice began to establish control of the upper Adriatic, gaining power and influence. As a great naval power, and an egalitarian society with no inherited aristocracy, it established itself as the capital of trade, wealth and art for the two high centuries of the Renaissance.
In LION CITY, Garry Wills, a twice-yearly visitor to Venice, gives us a definitive guide to the cultural and sociological history of this fascinating city. Successfully interweaving armchair travel and definitive history, he begins his tour in the years of the Renaissance when Venice was a new idea, a commercial, non-hereditary state and views the city through the eyes of the Venetians; the ruling classes, bourgeoisie, workers, Jews and clerics. Venice became City of the Lion, both a sea and land empire; a republic and a centre of art and learning, independent of Papal authority and creator of some of the world's masters and masterpieces - Michaelangelo, Bellini and Titian.
To understand the true spirit of this formidable city, Wills addresses the 'myth of Venice', that historical romance the city told about itself to prove to the world that it was set apart from ordinary states. This myth is articulated in Venice's art, and through this art, the author explores the heart of the city's identity. A fitting tribute to the unique social design and artistic culture of this fascinating power, VENICE:LION CITY is an enchanting insight into the Renaissance roots of today's floating city.