Book excerpt: Murano owes its worldwide fame to blown glass. The works created by the skillful hands of the island's master glassblowers have been exported East and West for centuries now, providing some of the most exquisite decorations for royal palaces and princely homes, and arousing the wonder and delight of travellers, poets and writers throughout the ages. Attilia Dorigato, Director of the Murano Glass Museum, traces all the key stages in the development of this age-old craft. Running from the Middle Ages to the heart of the contemporary world, her study focuses particular attention on the master glass-makers of the late part of the twentieth century. This up-to-date survey draws on an extraordinary range of photographs, some of them being published for the first time, and constitutes a fundamental work for anyone who wishes to understand the history of glass. Special illustrated appendices are included to reveal the techniques and secrets of this fascinating craft; what tools the master glassblowers use;