Robin Harris has a doctorate in modern history from Oxford University. He writes extensively on the Balkans and in particular Croatia and Bosnia.

ILLUSTRATIONS 1. Bull of Pope Benedict VIII in favour of Archbishop Vitalis, the oldest original document in the Dubrovnik archives and the first confirmation of the Ragusan archbishopric (1022) 2. Trade agreement between Dubrovnik and Pisa (1169) 3. Charter in favour of Dubrovnik granted by Ban Kulin of Bosnia (1189) 4. Charter in favour of Dubrovnik's autonomy granted by King Louis I of Hungary (1358) 5. Charter in favour of Dubrovnik granted by the Bosnian King Tvrtko I (1367) 6. Privilege granted by the Council of Basel for Dubrovnik to trade with the Muslim Levant (1433) 7. Ferman addressed to Dubrovnik by the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid II seeking the Republic's cooperation against his fugitive brother Dem (1482) 8. An Example of Dubrovnik's Code, employed in secret diplomatic transactions (1679) 9. Illuminated opening page of the register of the Confraternity of St. Anthony (Antunini) (about 1445, possibly by Lovro Dobricevic) 10 and 11. Illuminated opening pages of the register of the Confraternity of St. Lazarus (Lazarini) (1531, possibly by Pietro di Giovanni) 12.Charter in favour of Dubrovnik granted by the Sultan of Morocco (1780) 13. The Rector's Palace 14. Atrium of the Rector's Palace 15. The Sponza Palace (or Dogana) 16. Atrium of the Sponza Palace 17. The Cathedral 18. The Dubrovnik Franciscans' Cloister 19. Depiction of Dubrovnik inserted into the Liber Viridis (Laws of Dubrovnik 1358-1460: the picture itself is later) 20. Petar Sorkocevic's Villa on Lapad 21. Paolo Veneziano's painted crucifix (1340s) 22. Matko Juncic: Blessed Virgin with Saints (1452) 23. Lovro Dobricevic: The Baptism of Christ (1448) 24. Mihajlo Hamzic: The Baptism of Christ (1508) 25. Detail of Lovro Dobricevic's Virgin and Child (1465) 26. Detail of Lovro Dobricevic's Virgin and Child, St. Anthony of Padua (1465) 27. Detail of Lovro Dobricevic's Virgin and Child, St. Julian the Hospitaller (1465) 28. Vicko Lovrin: St. Michael and other Saints (1509) 29. Detail of Nikola BoA idarevic's Blessed Virgin with Saints, St. Blaise and St. Paul (early sixteenth century) 30. Detail of Nikola BoA idarevic's Sacra Conversazione, St. Julian the Hospitaller and St. James (1513) 31. Nikola BoA idarevic: The Annunciation (1513) 32. Detail of Nikola BoA idarevic's Sacra Conversazione (1517) 33. Nikola BoA idarevic: Blessed Virgin with Saints (1517) 34. Detail of Nikola BoA idarevic's Blessed Virgin with Saints, St. Martin and the beggar (1517) 35. Detail of Mihajlo Hamzic (and Pietro di Giovanni): St. Nicholas and other Saints, showing St. John the Baptist, St. Stephen and St. Nicholas (1512) 36. Detail of Frano Matijin's Virgin and Child (1534) 37. Votive painting of Ragusan ketch (1779) 38. Votive Painting of Ragusan brigantine (nineteenth century) 39. Detail of Nikola BoA idarevic's Annunciation (1513): the donor Marko Kolendic's ship at anchor in Lopud harbour 40. The Coat of Arms of the Ragusan Republic 41.The Minceta Tower 42. The Principal Fortifications of Dubrovnik 43. Detail of Statue of St. Blaise, showing Dubrovnik (probably mid-fifteenth century) 44. Depiction of Dubrovnik in Konrad von Grunemberg's account of his pilgrimage (1486) 45. Detail of Nikola BoA idarevic's Blessed Virgin with Saints, showing Dubrovnik (early sixteenth century) 46. Painting of Dubrovnik by Giovanni Batista Fabri (1736), showing the city and its suburbs as they were before the Great Earthquake of 1667 47. Engraving depicting the Great Earthquake of 1667 48. Reliquary of (the head of) St. Blaise (XI-XII century) 49. Statue of St. Blaise (probably mid-fifteenth century) 50. Lorenzo Vitelleschi's depiction of Veliki Ston (1827) 51. Ruined Zvekovica, in Konavle (February 1992) 52. Burning house in Dubrovnik's Aeiroka ulica (6 December 1991) Sources Dubrovnik State Archive - plates 1-12, 19, 40 Dominican Friary, Dubrovnik - plates 21, 23, 29-32, 35, 39, 45 Church of St. Blaise, Dubrovnik - plates 43, 49 Lopud Parish Museum - plate 22 Dubrovnik City Museum - plates 24, 46 Church of Our Lady at Dance, Dubrovnik - plates 25-27, 33-34 Franciscan Church, Cavtat - plate 28 Church of St. Stephen at Sustjepan, Dubrovnik - plate 36 Church of Our Lady of Mercy, Dubrovnik - plates 37-38 Dubrovnik Cathedral Treasury - plate 48 Plate 52, photograph taken by the late Miro Kerner, is reproduced by kind permission of his family

Trade paperback. A comprehensive history of Dubrovnik's progress over twelve centuries of European development, encompassing arts, architecture, social and economic changes and the traumas of war and politics.