The author of this guide is an architect and critic and he provides an in‐depth coverage of the city's architectural gems which are many and various and include many lesser known buildings off the tourist track. As such, it is an admirable attempt to take the visitor on some well‐planned walking tours to show off this wonderful city. It is copiously illustrated – mostly in colour – but with some black and white examples and includes useful maps of each area or Sestiere showing the routes of the walks. The Venetian Lagoon and islands are also covered where the author considers there to be places of architectural merit. The descriptions of the buildings are incredibly detailed and the prose is that of an architect so the reader needs to be familiar with architectural terms. A glossary of Venetian and Italian architectural terms is included. The descriptions of the buildings go far beyond that of a typical tourist guide to the city and will appeal to visitors who desire greater architectural context and analysis.
Perhaps the most original idea which works well is the section towards the end of the guide where the author takes the reader down the Grand Canal listing each building on the North and East banks from the Ferrovia to San Marco and then back along the West and South banks from the Piazzale Roma to the Punta de la Dogana. Every building can be identified from its description in the guide and the traveller can then read further at leisure – there are excellent indexes of the churches, palaces and other buildings of note. There is also a list of Doges of Venice in chronological order as well as the principal architects and sculptors responsible for the buildings of Venice.
Perhaps a weakness (if it can be described as such) of this guide is that it lacks real emotion and tells us very little about the history of the city. If the visitor wants to get a real feel for the life of the city as well as the wonderful architecture, then perhaps the best books are the edited version of The Stones of Venice (Morris, 2001) and the more up‐to‐date publication Francesco's Venice (da Mosto, 2004). If intending to visit the city for any appreciable period of time read these books first and take Richard Goy's guide along to fill in all the architectural detail. It is published in paperback which is a pity as it suffers from the usual problem of paperbacks – being bulky and tightly bound. It is impossible to put the book down and hope to retain the open pages which snap shut in an irritating manner. Also, the typeface is on the small side.
I would recommend this book for a good travel reference/architecture section as it does have comprehensive and extremely detailed coverage of the architecture of Venice. It should, however, be used in conjunction with some of the other works mentioned and also with a general guide to the city so that the reader can have a more balanced picture of the life and history of this wonderful destination.
