Reviews for Venetian villas

The average rating for Venetian villas based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2012-08-29 00:00:00 Brian Pritchett No rating at the moment cos I am just not sure what I would give it. It is much more than a coffee table book with lovely photos and I know that, just as I will continue to revisit books of poetry so I will revisit this book which, if it is not too pretentious to say, has a visual poetry to it. It looks at forty five of the author's favourite palaces ornamenting the various canals and waterfronts of this wonderful city. History, anecdote, architectural specifics including the stone used and the various elements that go to make up these extraordinary buildings, all these elements go to create a fascinating book which demands dipping and quaffing rather than a full on banquet from start to finish. A better man or woman than myself would consume it all and be fine; I find i suffer from historic building overload and have to go and snack on something light and easy and return to feast at a later date. If you love Venice; if you love a book to treat you with intelligence but not to assume too much; if you like findng out new facts and enjoy discovering new technical words and phrases which noone need ever know you have oh too swiftly forgotten again, then this is the book for you. Really lovely and my only sadness is the realization that as my copy is from 1978, I worry how much of this beauty has mouldered away into the lagoon since then.

Review # 2 was written on 2017-03-17 00:00:00 Richard Rosen So many Mafia histories are written to the same outline, regardless of their focus. Hess' book is an exception. My area of interest is Mafia organization---what shape a Mafia cosca takes, the shape of the network that connects cosche, its resemblance to and reliance upon the family. Hess devotes himself to describing and defining terms the rest of us have been throwing around: words like "mafia" and "mafioso." Even when talking about gangsters who are a poor fit, his is still the best resource for describing a subject as more or less meeting a classic and accepted definition. A must read for anyone with a serious interest in Mafia studies.