My name is Alessandro, and I have been alive for more than eight hundred years. Born in Venice in the twelfth century, Alessandro finds himself storming the gates of Constantinople with the Crusades -- only to be seriously wounded in the attack and left for dead. Or at least he should have been dead. Miraculously coaxed back to health by a woman possessing knowledge of ancient healing powers, Alessandro slowly understands that somehow, as his friends and lovers become older with the passage of time, his face remains unmarred as it was the day he awoke from his injuries. Eventually forced to leave the people who have grown to be his family, Alessandro must travel from destination to destination, each time making a new place his home for a few years and leaving before his secret is discovered. He stamps his personal touch on many great works of art through his travels, and he flourishes in profession after profession. "The Diaries of Alessandro da Veneto" are packed with danger, love, and a lush ground-level sense of history. Through the eyes of a brilliant man and his memoirs, Dr. Parrish gives his readers a glimpse into a richness of art, politics and culture of the time periods through which his journalist wanders. Alessandro has an articulate and sensitive voice and all the quiet power of his vast years, and his detailed descriptions, are as captivating as the countrysides themselves.