Customer Reviews

The Venetian Empire 1200-1670 (Men-at-Arms)

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Although this sounds paradoxal, Venice was really an republican empire...or probably more an oligarchical empire (the power was concentrated in a limited number of families and corporations), This book summarizes with great skill this long period of the Venetian Empire; the city, de "terra firma" (Dalmatia) and also "De Mare" (overseas possessions).

Their peculiar beliefs (for example that war was an extension of commerce), sources of wealth and power, training and equipment, their peculiar political interaction with the military, and also the extremely important navy are some of the subjects that the author competently clarifies.

The book is mainly divided between the period of expansion (until 1509), and the defensive period that followed the former. Obviously in a 48 page book much is left and much more is only mentioned (it's almost 500 years!), but I believe that this book is valuable as an introduction to the subject.

Two annoying things:

The art of Christopher Rothero, although not bad, is somewhat inferior to Osprey's usual standards. Not that the artist doesn't know how to draw, but I believe that he didn't made much effort in this work (for example: almost all the faces look the same).

David Nicolle is a GREAT scholar, and I admire a lot his work...but sometimes he just can't hide his preference for the islamic world and there goes the impartiality of the academic. Remarks of Turkish treatment of prisioners of war being much better then Christhian ones; references to "piratical aggression of the Knights of Saint John" (when they were clearly at war), etc. There were no saints in the mediterranean sea, and obviously there were much atrocities made by Ottoman Turks, Venetian Captains among many others...trying to make "victims" of a nation that enslaved or executed numberless prisioners is naive.

Why the Men-At-Arms series continues to put out these overly broad volumes is beyond my fathoming. Yes, the information is good ... up to a point. The problem is that in creating such broad portraits, the best you get is a stereotyping of the era. And as this volume is not graced by Angus McBride's illustrations, it falls to a lower notch yet.

Venice was a power in the Middle Ages and through part of the Renaissance. Even when dominated by foriegn powers, it was a player on the international scene, especially when dealing with the crumbling remains of the Byzantine Empire. This book does show that Venice was a force to be reckoned with; unfortunately it is covering a period of over 450 years, so anything said in the book must of needs be of a broad perspective.

Many people buy the Men-at-Arms book strictly for the center colour illustrations (yes, I've seen you, you fighters of the SCA!). There is nothing at all wrong with this. I might warn a potential purchaser, however, that the illustrations in this volume are rather flat and might not give you the wealth of detail you might otherwise expect. They are not /bad/, but sometimes the proportions are a bit off, which might convince you to lenghthen a hauberk where it is unnecessary.

I can only hope that Osprey will someday go back and break up several of these "long era" books into smaller chunks. We would be far better served then.