Uncommon Dominion Venetian Crete and the Myth of Ethnic Purity Sally McKee "Sally McKee's magisterial book on the character of Venetian dominion in fourteenth-century Crete contributes immensely to our understanding of that neglected subject. Moreover, the book is a thought-provoking examination of this specific case history in relation to the origins and nature of Western colonialism."--International History Review From 1211 until its loss to the Ottomans in 1669, the Greek island we know as Crete was the Venetian colony of Candia. Ruled by a paid civil service fully accountable to...

The extraordinary story of African American composer Edmond Dede, raised in antebellum New Orleans, and his remarkable career in France

In 1855, Edmond Dede, a free black composer from New Orleans, emigrated to Paris. There he trained with France's best classical musicians and went on to spend thirty-six years in Bordeaux leading the city's most popular orchestras. How did this African American, raised in the biggest slave market in the United States, come to compose ballets for one of the best theaters outside of Paris and gain recognition as one of Bordeaux's most popular...