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Italian Venice

A History
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
In Italian Venice, Richard Bosworth offers an elegant exploration of Venice from the fall of the Venetian Republic in 1797 through to the present day. Rather than focusing on the glorious past, he examines the city's complex journey through the Risorgimento, the belle époque with its glamour and squalor, the turmoil of two world wars, and the oppressive fascist regime. The book reflects on the modern challenges Venice faces, including its transformation into a tourist hotspot, the impact of cultural events like the biennale and film festival, and environmental threats such as subsidence and flooding due to global warming. Bosworth highlights major themes such as the enduring influence of the Catholic Church and the conflicting forces of modernization, consumerism, and culture, revealing Venice as a city where history and present-day realities continuously interact.
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Format: Paperback / softback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

Ideal for readers interested in European history, cultural studies, and the intricate past and present of Venice beyond its well-known grandeur. Suitable for those curious about the intersections of history, politics, society, and environmental challenges within a unique urban setting.

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Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

In this elegant book, Richard Bosworth explores Venice—not the glorious Venice of the Venetian Republic, but from the fall of the Republic in 1797 and the Risorgimento up through the present day. Bosworth looks at the glamour and squalor of the belle époque and the dark underbelly of modernization, the two world wars, and the far-reaching oppressions of the fascist regime, through to the "Disneylandification" of Venice and the tourist boom, the worldwide attention of the biennale and film festival, and current threats of subsidence and flooding posed by global warming. He draws out major themes—the increasingly anachronistic but deeply embedded Catholic Church, the two faces of modernization, consumerism versus culture.

Bosworth interrogates not just Venice's history but its meanings, and how the city's past has been co-opted to suit present and sometimes ulterior aims. Venice, he shows, is a city where its histories as well as its waters ripple on the surface.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Critics praise Bosworth's work for its lively and informative prose, rich in colourful incidents and characters sourced from diverse materials. Theodore K Rabb calls it engaging and thoroughly researched. Christopher Silvester of The Financial Times highlights Bosworth as a subtle, stylish historian who decodes Venice's unofficial histories, offering fresh perspectives beyond typical tourist narratives. Tobias Jones of The Sunday Times finds the book far more colourful and enjoyable than typical histories, appreciating its human-scale detail and fascinating insight into Venice's living past.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780300216127

Publisher: Yale University Press

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 11 September 2015

Country: United States

Imprint: Yale University Press

Illustration: 37 b-w illus.

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 127.0mm

Height: 197.0mm

Weight: 363g

Pages: 352

About the Author

R. J. B. Bosworth is a senior research fellow at Jesus College, Oxford.

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