During the Renaissance, there were two centres of art, culture and mercantile power in Italy: Florence, and Venice. This is a sourcebook of primary materials, almost none previously available in English, for the history of the city-state of Venice. The time period covers the apogee of Venetian power and reputation to the beginnings of its decline in the 1630s. Sources used include diaries, chronicles, Inquisitorial records, literature, legislation, and contemporary descriptions, and are organized in sections by theme and accompanied by brief introductions.

Originally published by Basil...

Every day seems to bring news of legal challenges to existing marriage laws and the constitutionality of any form of union for same-sex partners. In this timely and accessible book, Michael Mello argues that the public debates and political battles that have divided Vermont and Massachusetts will be repeated across the country as state after state confronts the issue of legalizing gay marriage. Mello examines recent landmark decisions in state and federal high courts granting civil rights protections to homosexuals. In Vermont, the Supreme Court's recommendation that legislators recognize the...

What if changes to our healthcare facilities actually improved the way care is delivered, allowing providers to increase the quality of care and the predictability of outcomes while also significantly decreasing the costs to provide that care? What if the resulting facility were also less expensive and faster to produce? Could this building provide a safer environment and be itself a quality space? If the answers to these questions are yes, then the building is far more than a solution to providing greater capacity: it is the engine that can empower a whole new model of care in this country...