Book excerpt: Each year in Venice the weeks preceeding the privations of Lent are forgotten in the exuberant release of carnival. The dissolute behaviour of its citizens in the 18th century reached such depths that the use of masks was banned, but revived in the 1970s it has since become the prevailing image of Carnevale. In this elegantly- designed book the reader is offered a concise introduction to the history of the carnival and mask-wearing, illustrated by J.C. Brown's moody and evocative photos of Venetian masks and the beautiful city.