Detailed, scholarly and eminently readable, Dubrovnik is a triumph of book production. This is a splendid volume.The Literary Review
There are few introductions to the citys past available to general readers . . . Harris splendid study meets this need admirably.The Times Literary Supplement
A fascinating and scholarly account.Daily Telegraph
Since emerging as a settlement in the seventh century, Dubrovnik held a significant position beyond what could have been expected of this tiny city-state. Its merchants, trading throughout the huge Ottoman Empire, enjoyed privileges denied to other Western states. A politically skilled and commercially enterprising ruling class took every opportunity to maximize the republics wealth.
Dubrovnik also faced the extreme dangers posed by Venetian aggressors, Ottoman plotters, a terrible earthquake in 1667, and, finally, the will of Napoleon. In 1991 and 1992, the city survived the besieging Yugoslav army, which heavily damaged but did not destroy Dubrovniks cultural heritage. This book is a comprehensive history of Dubrovniks progress over twelve centuries of European development, encompassing arts, architecture, social and economic changes, and the traumas of war and politics.
