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Treasures from St Mark's were sold to raise funds, or melted down for coin. For over a year, from March 1848 to August 1849, the Austrians blockaded the city - their shells can still be seen, buried in the walls of Venetian churches. Food was scarce, cholera was rife. But the cause was doomed, and without foreign help the sad, if glorious end, was always inevitable. Jonathan Keates follows the story in intimate detail, setting it in the wider context of the struggle for Italian independence. The drama is full of great characters: the fiery, hopelessly idealistic Bandiero brothers, whose death gave Italian independence its first martyrs; the small, bespectacled, courageous leader Daniele Manin; the crusty Austrian general Metternich; the ambitious but dithering king of Piedmont; the glamorous aristocrat and supporter of the rebels, Princess Belgioso. We see Palmerston holding forth in London, the Emperor fuming in Vienna, the Pope fleeing from responsibility in Rome. This is a crowded canvas, bloody with battles flowing back and forth across the plains of northern Italy, and invading the city and its still lagoon. Yet it is also profoundly touching in domestic detail, bringing home vividly what it was like to lived in these terrible times, clinging to ideals in the midst of turmoil.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49504369312017,"sku":"GOR002457843","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49553771299089,"sku":"GOR002263466","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49946738393361,"sku":"GOR010595326","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50055305986321,"sku":"CIN0701166371G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50727087309073,"sku":"CIN0701166371VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0701166371.jpg?v=1751136842"},{"product_id":"smile-please-book-j-keates-9780099285168","title":"Smile Please","description":"At 3.00 in the morning in a gay club somewhere in London, Adam Killigrew comes face to face with Nemesis, wreathed in an unknown boy's devastating grin. Maybe it's just a question of smiling back? But life offers more complications for Adam.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49569181565201,"sku":"GOR002626550","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ WELL_READ \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52460366037265,"sku":"GOR012259554","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0099285169.jpg?v=1751226594"},{"product_id":"purcell-book-j-keates-9780701146931","title":"Purcell","description":"Henry Purcell (1659-95) is unarguably England's greatest composer. He died very young, at the age of 36, but he was astonishingly prolific, leaving behind harpsichord pieces and sonatas of great beauty, as well as numerous songs, anthems, operas, and great choral masterpieces DIDO AND AENEAS and TE DEUM AND JUBILATE. This scholarly and wonderfully readable biography - by the author of an acclaimed biography of Handel is published to coincide with the tercentenary of Purcell's death. Jonathan Keates brings alive Restoration London, its thriving social scene, theatres, concert halls and the lively court of Charles II, and paints a vivid, intelligent portrait of a great artist.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49596568240401,"sku":"GOR003420988","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50456273387793,"sku":"CIN0701146931G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53588376912145,"sku":"GOR002800649","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0701146931.jpg?v=1751328295"},{"product_id":"purcell-book-j-keates-9780712674195","title":"Purcell","description":"Henry Purcell (1659-95) is, without doubt, England's greatest composer. He died young at the age of 36, but he was astonishingly prolific, leaving behind harpsichord pieces and sonatas of great beauty, as well as numerous songs, anthems, operas and magnificent choral masterpieces such as DIDO AND AENEAS, TE DEUM and JUBILATE. In this scholarly and wonderfully readable biography - by the author of an acclaimed life of Handel - Jonathan Keates brings Restoration London vividly to life - its thriving social scene, theatres, concert halls and exuberant court of Charles II. He paints a compelling and utterly convincing portrait of a great artist.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49606696796433,"sku":"GOR002977068","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53605948096785,"sku":"GOR005147011","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0712674195.jpg?v=1750977329"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/de-ch\/collections\/autor-buecher-von-j-keates.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}