Description
Because of its strategic position, Malta G.C., has through the centuries enjoyed an importance out of all proportion to its size with the Grand Harbour playing a significant role in Mediterranean affairs. The Harbour with its distinctive features, is one of Malta’s greatest assets and with Valletta, the Three Cities and Mdina, has been the avantgarde in our chequered history. For centuries the main gate to both a capital city and an Island, it mirrors Malta’s eventful past in war and peace.
It is stamped with the imprint of major events which took place in peace and war: human, dramatic, heroic – some an epic in their own right. The Grand Harbour and related maritime activities have moulded to a great extent the scenario of the cities around it and People, especially those who lived or earned their livelihood directly or indirectly in this area.
This Melitensia book covers a wide spectrum into which had gone much thought, observation and exhaustive research. Dr Charles J Boffa – academic and historian, brings the past and the more recent past to life, progressing chronologically from the time of the Knights of St John; long links with Sicily; the short turbulent French occupation; the British period during which the Royal Navy was closely associated with and used the Grand Harbour and Dockyard for 178 years; World War I; the Interwars Period; and World War II, on which the reader will find a wide dimension, including experiences and viewpoints of Maltese officials actually involved in various sectors and also some British, Italian and German personalities.
In this authoritative account, Dr. Boffa has condensed long annals of developments and note-worthy events into pages of absorbing reading. He emphasises the human angle and his descriptions are impeccable. Furthermore, the pictorial presentation captures effectively the Grand Harbour scene and its environs.
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