Product Description
From 1940 to 1942, supremacy of the skies over Malta wasbitterly contested by the RAF, the Regia Aeronautica and theLuftwaffe.Victory was eventually achieved, but at great cost, by theRAF together with Malta-based ground forces, the Royal Navy and theMercantile Marine.

The desperate air battles have since passed into legend, epitomized bythe early exploits of a few Royal Navy Sea Gladiator biplane fighters,taken over by the RAF and immortalized as Faith, Hopeand Charity.

More than a thousand aircraft of all types were lost before thefighting was over.Many crashed into the Mediterranean, and othersfell on Malta itself.Anthony Rogers has painstakingly researched thebackground to nearly 200 of these crashes, interviewing eyewitnessesand surviving aircrew, to provide a unique record of events.

The authors detailed and descriptive account includes a series ofnarrative snapshots that reveal just how bitter the air battlefor Malta actually was.His work is supplemented with more thanthirty wartime photographs, many of which are published here for thefirst time, and includes a use full section on aviation museums andcollections on the island. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Charting Malta's Air Battles!
Malta was absolutely essential to the ultimate Allied victory in the MTO. The air attacks endured by that tiny British outpost were amongst the heaviest of the war. Malta native Anthony Rogers provides a unique perspective to the 1940-42 air battles in this fascinating 2000 release from England's Sutton Publishing.

Over 1,000 Allied and Axis aircraft were lost in the fight for Malta. Rogers concentrated on the 184 British, Italian and German aircraft that crashed on or very near the island. After much in-depth research, he was able to not only pinpoint the crash sites of 125 of these losses but also recreate what led to the loss. Thus BATTLE OVER MALTA is part history, part archeology. Interestingly enough, some fairly famous pilots - 'Screwball' Beurling, 'Timber' Woods, Gunther von Maltzahn, 'Laddie' Lucas and Joachim Muncheberg- were involved in some of the shootdowns.

Rogers does a first-rate job of reconstructing those air battles, interweaving information from official sources, combat reports and personal reminscences from airmen and civilians alike. Over 30 vintage photographs depict some of the crash scenes, opposing airmen and aircraft, etc.

All in all, BATTLE OVER MALTA offers a fascinating, up-close-and-personal portrait of some life-and-death combats fought over one of the most important pieces of Britsh real estate during World War II. Highly recommended. ... Read more

Product Description
This is the story of the historic air defense of Malta by the WRAF against the combined attacking forces of the Italian and German air forces. The island was poorly equipped when Italy declared war on Britain in June 1940 and its only defense against air attack at the outset of war were 34 heavy and 8 light antiaircraft guns, one radar set and four Gladiator biplane fighters.

Customer Reviews (1)

A Waste of Money
I don't like to create a review such as this, but I wish someone else had before I bought the book from Amazon. For any serious student of the aerial siege of Malta it is worthless. The book seems to be a hodgepodge of bits and pieces of the conflict with an unnecesary focus on the wartime public blatherings of officials which were understandable at the time, but devoid of any real historical information. Seemingly, the impressive bibliography had not been read! Above all, the factual mistakes are glaring. Accounts of aircraft shot down confuse whether the aircraft or the pilot, or both, was lost. Typical is the comment that HMS Eagle was torpedoed by an E-boat! And so it goes..... ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
St Johns Co-Cathedral is a gem of Baroque art and architecture. Its rich history and artistic heritage is due to the fact that, for over 200 years, it was the conventual church of the Order of St John of Jerusalem. The history of the church is directly tied to the history of the Order in Malta. Over the years, the grand masters, dignitaries, and knights donated gifts of high artistic value and made enormous contributions to enrich it with the best works of art by the leading artists available to them. The knights themselves referred to the church as la nostra chiesa maggiore della Sacra Religione Gerosolmitana. The book outlines the history of the church. It also describes the chapels, the art and the treasures found within. Moreover it is the first book to be published after the completion of the restoration project of the main nave. Photography for this publication was done during November 2009. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

An original account.
Finding historic accounts of what happened during any time of world conflict is often quite difficult. This particular book was first published in 1943 at a time when the Malta Blitz was barely over - although the war itself still had another two years to run.

In order to emphasise how important Malta was during the dark days of WW2, had she fallen, it is very likely that North Africa would also have been completely overrun by Axis troops. With the northern coastline of the entire Mediterranean in the hands of those German and Italian forces, and with Malta being almost centrally placed in that sea, getting supplies through became a monumental, often heroic, task.

Ships like the Ohio became the stuff of legend - with her captain, like the people of Malta, also being awarded the George Cross. Had that particular ship not reached Malta, however, plans for the surrender were ready and waiting to be put into force.

In order to put these events into perspective, much has been written about the London Blitz. This lasted for 57 days during which, as anyone might expect, the city was staunchly defended by RAF and ground forces. By comparison, the Malta Blitz lasted for 157 days - a full 100 days longer, or almost 3 times as long, and whilst there was no shortage of valour from the defending forces and civilian population, they simply did not have either the aircraft or ammunition to put up the same level of defence as was seen in England.

But, defend they did and survive they did - and this is their story. It is an excellent record of events and contains many historic photographs not found elsewhere.

NM

... Read more

Product Description
The theatre has been a popular form of entertainment in Malta at least since the early 15th century.The island's Manoel Theatre is the oldest in Europe which is still in use.In this colorfully illustrated volume, an architect examines the checkered history of the building itself; dramatic incidents both on and off the stage are related by a lecturer in theatre studies; and the reader learns of 137 operas that were written by Maltese composers and about those that made it to the stage.The illustrious longevity of the Manoel Theatre, coupled with the breathtaking beauty of its aesthetic interiors may oftentimes militate against the collective memory of its artistic and human endeavors. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

What an insightful book.
This book gives you history!!One of the books to read this century.It made me laugh and made me cry and the little stories in this book were wonderful!!!If in doubt about this book, DON'T BE!!!One book not to bemissed ... Read more

Product Description
The order of the Knights Hospitaller of St. John of Jerusalem is the most long-lived of the great military orders of knighthood. Originating in a hospice on the road to Jerusalem and officially founded in 1099 during the First Crusade, the Knights of St. John continued to grow in wealth, power, and territory long after they were run out of Jerusalem by victorious Muslim forces. In The Shield and the Sword, Ernle Bradford displays his talents as a master storyteller and great scholar of the Mediterranean, charting the intriguing history of the Knights-from their origins in the Holy Land to their subsequent relocations to Rhodes, the island of Malta, and eventually England. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

HIGHLY Recommended
This book covers an amazingly interesting topic and the story is told by a truely great storyteller. It recounts the story of the Knights Hospitaller of St. John of Jerusalem from their beginning during the Crucades to the present day with special attention given to pertinant battles that forced them out of Jerusalem, then out of Rhodes, then their victorys in Malta. Very exciting story that anyone would love.

Best history book I've ever read.Period.
This book takes the cake as a history book.It's almost like your reading a novel, but then you flip the pages and see the back cover where it says "history" and you curse, just a little, because you normally have sworn off history after high school but just can't find yourself able to throw the book down.Bradford's enthusiasim for the history part isn't lost though; oh no, by far it's transformed into an endearing and worthwhile tale of the Knights of St. John.His prose is so gentle yet sweeping that he easily delves into and out of side-descriptions and filler information, in fact a lot better than most modern novels do.He gets you to feel the Aegean sun that battered the backs of these superb soldiers and first rate monks when they were at Rhodes, and I can tell you that from word one to word end "The Shield and the Sword" is the book to read for history, whether you like the Crusades, adventure, war-stuff, or heck, you just want a good read.I'd personally recommend it for anyone- the stuffy nosed scholar or the curious child, the wondering joe off the street or the guy who sits at his computer screen reading this review (yes you, oh great and enlightened one!).So yeah, five stars, it's excellent.

Comprehensive history
From its birth in the first Crusade, through the possession of the isle of Rhodes to its lost of the island against the forces of Suleiman the Magnificent, to making a home on Malta; the great siege of Malta by Suleiman again, Mr Bradford is able to make well researched material interesting.After Malta, the Knights were on top, how they dropped to the bottom as they lost Malta to Napoleon, were they are now in the world as a humanitarian organization.
If you have any interest in this subject, this is a good book.It could have used a few more maps (I read the 1973 hard back version), and three times it seemed the author was taking sides with the Knights on some minor old debate.His book "The Great Siege; Malta 1565" is an excellent book. ... Read more

Product Description
Between June 1940 and December 1942, Malta became one of the most bombed places on earth. The battle for this tiny island proved to be one of the most decisive turning points of World War II. In this book the author uses first-hand experience of the conflict to describe the pressures of combat. As the commanding officer of the island's top-scoring Spitfire squadron he gives an insight into the tactics that reversed the overwhelming odds stacked against Allied successes, as well as featuring miraculous escapes and the darker hours - the intense bombing campaign that destroyed 39 newly-arrived Spitfires, the hardships endured by the islanders and the enormous cost in human life. Laddie Lucas recounts individual stories of heroism and gives an insight into the behaviour of the pilots. ... Read more

Product Description
The island fortress of Malta was located close to Mussolini's Italy and controlled the supply line to British and later American forces in North Africa. The British possession was the scene of some of the most savage air and sea attacks of World War II. ... Read more

Product Description
The island of Malta was vital in any Mediterranean campaign in World War II. From this British bastion, Allied bombers, submarines and surface ships attacked and sank many of Rommel's supply ships. This text describes the attacks made from Malta. ... Read more