Description
Malta: People, Places and Events – Historical Sketches
This book is an assortment of historical sketches about the Maltese Islands in the 19th century and in the first half of the 20th century.
It is broadly divided into three parts – people, places and events. The events chronicled include a naval battle, aspects of military history and accounts as diverse and unrelated to one another as the traditional blessing of animals on St Anthony the Abbot’s Day and the advent of electricity and the telegraph in Malta. The places depicted – churches, auberges, palaces, gardens – are set strictly within their historical context.
Almost half the book is devoted to people – for it is people who make events and build palaces or lay out gardens. The Maltese and Gozitan personalities portrayed include two jurists, a prelate, a sculptor, and artist and a nobleman, while there are also accounts of two British administrators and of a distinguished dynasty, destined to serve in Malta. Tribute is also paid to a number of notable Maltese and Gozitan women of the past.
The majority of the historical sketches that make up this book were originally published as articles in The Sunday Times (Malta). Three accounts – on Antonio Sciortino, San Anton Palace and on some of Charles de Brocktorff’s views of Valletta – first appeared in Treasures of Malta. Each piece has since been revised and rewritten with additional material.
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.