The thousand-year-old Most Serene Republic of Venice, with possessions in Italy and Greece and commercial dominance throughout the Mediterranean, is the axis around which the award-winning William H. McNeill reconstructs the entire history of Western Europe during the late Middle Ages and early modern times. Through the conflicts and interactions of Catholics and Orthodox, the Venetians and the Byzantines, and later the Venetians and the Ottomans, McNeill explores the foundations of Venetian power and the sources of its wealth, securing its unique position on the borders of the papal and Orthodox worlds.

This is an imposing history of the greatest maritime power, a classic moment in European historiography.