"Queen of the Seas" Venice. She went from unlimited power and wealth - to decline and destruction. The luxury that reigned surrounded by doges was amazing, and the cunning of the rulers of this medieval city-state was terrifying. Travelers revered their duty to describe the beauty of Venetian palaces - and with trepidation retold terrible legends about the mysterious Council of Ten, the slightest disobedience to which led to an unknown death or life imprisonment in the most terrible of the prisons in Europe. What caused the unprecedented heyday of the Venetian Republic? What caused her fall? Which of the many legends about her are true, and which are not? Sir John Julius Norwich recounts this in his fascinating book.