This book is a beautiful amalgamation of historical and geographical information about Venice, written by a person deeply in love with the city. It will be attractive to anyone interested in Venice or wishing to visit the city. Lightly, the author starts the narrative from the first settlements on the area, when sea tides and river streams shaped the channels and islands, or shelters for the first inhabitants. Then the author writes the Gothic conquest of the land and the arrival of the Huns, goes through the life of Venice in the Little Golden Age, as the city shaped and grew, and tells about the first significant families of Venice. Finally, a reader follows the city's history through the Middle Ages and Renaissance and learns about dodges, artists, and scientists. It is an exciting look at the history of Venice from the point of view of the 19th-century writer.

Francis Marion Crawford (1854 1909) was an American writer noted for many novels and classic weird and fantastic stories. The favorite setting for his works was Italy. He also created numerous historical works, including Ave Roma Immortalis (1898), Rulers of the South (1900), and Gleanings from Venetian History.