For centuries, Venice was a symbol of economic power. It was a commonplace in France to state that someone with wealth was "almost as rich as a Venetian". But by the end of the sixteenth century, Venice was declining. New trade routes had robbed them of their monopolies and warfare had drained their treasury. In her history of the Netherlandish traders in Venice, van Gelder (early modern history, university of Amsterdam) tells the story of the transition from Mediterranean based trade to the rise of Atlantic and North Sea hegemony through the growth of the power of Netherlandish merchants in Venice. She treats the decline of Venetian influence and the rise of Antwerp and Amsterdam, giving background on the political and economic situation in Venice. She then charts the rise of the Low Country enclave in Venice and how the merchants used family and business connections to create an international network. They were able to use both land and sea routes to provide Venice with needed supplies and, eventually, were even bringing spices to sell in Venice, thus eclipsing the main luxury trade that the city-state had depended upon. The Netherlandish merchants negotiated favorable concessions in tariffs and exemption from restrictions in living arrangements. Their influence was so strong that some married into the patrician class, which had been reserved to a few native families for over three hundred years. This study of the microcosm of change in Venice is an example of transitions that were then occurring all over Europe. Annotation ©2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)