Thomas F. Madden

Summary: The history of this great city at the meeting place of Europe and Asia from the Byantine Empire beginning in 667 BC through the modern Istanbul up to 2016.

Istanbul, located on the Bosporus Strait connecting Europe and Asia, and possessing in its Golden Horn, a natural harbor, was a strategic city and crossroad of the world for centuries. Thomas F. Madden, a medieval and renaissance history professor captures in 360 pages the history of this great city (in fact, the name, Istanbul means “the city”).

He traces its beginnings in 667 BC when Greek settlers, including it founder, Byzas, from Megara recognized its natural advantages both for trade and defense and settled there, naming it Byzantium after its founder. He traces the transitions from Persian to Greek to Roman rule and the rise of the city under Constantine, where it became New Rome, the capitol of the Roman Empire. He follows the long history as, first barbarians from Europe, and then Muslims from the East erode the boundaries of empire. We see the city embroiled in the schism of the Christian East and West, with the Hagia Sophia the powerful symbol of the Eastern church.

While the city, now Constantinople, faces numerous attacks and is forced into alliances with Venice and Genoa, it does not fall for over a thousand yearsd due to its protected harbor and massive walls and natural barriers in approaching the city. Then finally, in 1453 it falls to the Ottomans becoming the centerpiece of the empire of Suleiman the Great. Then Madden chronicles the long decline under a succession of sultans until the end of the Ottoman empire following World War I and the rise of Turkish nationalism under Kamal in the 1920’s and the rise of the Erdogan regime and the transformation of Istanbul into a modern city, even as the seat of government moves to Ankara.

The history seemed to me one in which this great city struggled with complacency about its greatness. Despite encroaching powers, the city seemed invulnerable. Madden gives us a story where the internal weaknesses of the city aided its enemies. Yet Madden also portrays the magnificence of the city–its temples, mosques, palaces, hippodrome, and walls and harbor. In a compactly rendered history, he helps us understand why the city was both great and strategic for centuries, and even now, and what contributed to its defeats, and the transitions of power it has undergone.… (mehr)

Thomas Madden’s Venice: A New History is an ideal history of this unique city providing a solid framework of the city’s history in a very readable format. The author’s love for the city is infectious and the reader is left with a new appreciation of this ancient city. Parts of the book I valued the most include:
• The early Venetians were driven to settle on the islands and sandbars of the lagoon as a way to escape the attackers that swept through Europe during the 9th century.
• The Venetians exploited the characteristics of the lagoon (e.g. shallow waters with narrow channels) to successfully defend their city against attackers for many centuries.
• Venice needed to balance its relationships with Constantinople and with Rome. Although it was located in Italy, it showed a greater affiliation to Constantinople for much of its history.
• Venice was an entrepreneurial city devoted exclusively to trade. Because it had no agricultural basis for much of its history, it never developed the landed nobility class like the rest of Europe. Considerable complications ensued when Venice began to extend itself onto the mainland including conflicts with other Italian cities.
• Venice had extensive trading relations with the Ottoman empire. The author provides a fascinating analysis of the delicate dance needed to maintain these relations despite support for crusaders.
• Venice was a Republic for most of its history in contrast to the monarchies throughout Europe at the time. Because many writers have painted a different and darker picture of the city’s government, the author spends a considerable amount of time explaining how the city’s government really worked.
• Napoleon claimed to have liberated Venice during his Italian campaigns but most Venetians felt that they had considerably less freedom after he appeared.
• Finally, the author provides a good overview of the environmental challenges facing the city as well as their challenges in dealing with floods of tourists.
The book also provides a nice review of European and Mediterranean history from the perspective of Venice. The book also provides a concise story of Venice’s influence on art and music.
What makes this book so successful is that it is a Goldilocks book: not too many details and not too few details. As a result, it is easy to follow the thread of the city’s history. The reader is left with both a true understanding of the history and with a hunger to learn more.… (mehr)

I have fallen in love with ancient Venice thanks to this book. It was the oldest republic in the world, for 1300 years its people opposed a strong central government. The author destroys old myths about its “all-powerful” doges who were nothing of the sort. Doges were chosen by a process so complex no one of power could possibly influence it “other than God,” and were replaced easily. Not until Napoleon—who “forced” liberty on it (another myth because according to the author they were the most free people through antiquity)—did one man force the Venetians to erect a statue to one man in St Mark’s Square. Napoleon. It didn’t last long. Venice was formed when Romans escaped to its islands fleeing Attila the Hun. Because land was scarce, there was no landed gentry, and thus no nobility, unlike everywhere else in the ancient world. And yet the people were and are noble. An excellent book!!

By the way, the narrator was fantastic as well. I just don’t have enough praise for this book. While I’m not as enamored with Venice’s modern history (no fault of the author’s of course), I now cannot wait to see it in a few weeks!!… (mehr)