The Knights of Malta

by Joseph Attard

The style and subtlety of Joseph Attard’s writing has already won acclaim for his previous historical works which include three actual best-sellers. Now, in The Knights of Malta, Attard applies the same qualities to evoke a personalized account of Malta and her people under the Order of St John of Jerusalem.
The story is followed from the birth of the Order in Palestine, to its transfer to Cyprus and to the longer stay and debacle at Rhodes, from where it found its home in Malta in 1530. In his inimitable way Attard recreates the history of the Order in its 268-year stay on the island.
It is a story of the knights’ prowess at war as well as of their daily life, in the process showing their strength and weaknesses, as well as their intrigues, which characterized their fascinating era. But this is also a story of Maltese involvement in this historical extravaganza, further enhanced by the colourful and precious stories of towns, buildings, fortifications, culture, and customs introduced by the knights and left for posterity to modern Malta.
After the Knights were dispersed by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1798, their days seemed numbered. However, the Order was again revived as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta which continues to fulfil its mission to this day.

Genres: History

189 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

Reviews

[Koit · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have very mixed feelings about this one: from one point of view, this is the most detailed and thorough history of the Knights of St John I've read; from another, this is a poorly edited book that is difficult to read.

Somehow, the first chapters by now seem to have been a lot better. I guess my thinking is that I must have continued on for a reason: although what I'd say is that here the primary reason for my willingness to stand this level of language was that I wanted to learn more about Malta. This I achieved -- with plenty of headache during the process. 

Therefore, I'm a bit dubious on whether this is something anyone else should even want to take a look at. In my (sparse) tests in the bookshops in Malta, this was the best history of the Order of St John there -- and that is a pity: I can only imagine how good this could be if it was written in fluid English that connected one thought to the next... At the same time, for a history buff such as myself, I am willing to struggle through it -- if that interest isn't there, this book will also kill the spark, I'm afraid.

This review was originally posted on my blog.

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very cool history overall! That said, I feel like the first half of this was very poorly written. I didn't quite understand the origination of the knights, and then the section about the siege of Malta by the Turks was very, very long, but somehow still didn't give me the information I wanted. Joseph didn't provide context that I would want - 40000 Turks are in their armada - is that a lot? is that the usual amount for an armada? - or much of the human motivation. For example, one of the Turkish general's personal assistants betrays him to the Knights, which allows them to prepare for an attack...why would he do that? Joseph doesn't think that's relevant, I guess. Likewise, I can tell Joseph really, really applauds Jean de Vallette, but it's difficult to connect emotionally with the emotional moments - Vallette's tears, his bravery, etc. - without a solid emotional weight to the book.

As we move on, I feel like that's less and less of a problem, and I feel like I'm provided adequate context. The narration of Mustapha's betrayal of Grand Master Pinto, for example, has all the narrative elements I would expect. I think the history of this overall is very cool, it covers a vast span of centuries, plenty of social developments as we move through the modernization of Europe, the rise and fall of various men, countries, empires, all grounded around the focal point that is Malta. Lots of images, but often very darkly printed. I'm glad I read this, and I'm definitely more informed about the Knights of Malta than I was before. I would visit, even, if the opportunity arose.

I feel like this probably deserves four stars, but I'm going to give it five, because I vastly prefer the kind of amateur historian vibes of this than a more academic history. Like, I can imagine Joseph as one of those passionate elderly men that speaks for a bit in history documentaries.

[Chris Ekral · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an entertaining and detailed history of the time the Knights of St. John spent in Malta, with a brief resume of their history before and after their time there. It's accessible without becoming bogged down in too much minute detail, featuring a gripping account of the attempted invasion by the Ottoman Turks in 1565. The only let down is the many typos and strange turns of language employed by the author. Although understandable as English is not the writer's first language, the fact that 30 years have passed since the book was first published should surely mean that these errors could have been rectified by now. A real shame as it detracts from what is otherwise a very enjoyable read

[Rupert Grech · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a brief and readable history of the Order of Knights of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem, commonly known as Knights Hospitallers or Knights of Malta. The book is informative and traces the history from the Order’s inception and establishment to the present day. It is relatively brief and the one criticism I would make is that it leaves out significant detail on the financial establishment and subsequent financial activities of the Order. I particularly enjoyed reading about the reigns of the 28 different Grand Masters up to the French occupation.

[Bogdan]

I thought I’d give gift shop book a try.
After 20 pages of ludicrously biased statements about various elements, I had to give up.
Case in point: to state that the Templars were suppressed because of “intrigue” and their involvement in Freemasonry is not only anachronistic since speculative Freemasonry only emerged four centuries later, but it also trumpets literally the same arguments as Philipp IV of France who just wanted to get to the Templar’s’ assets to even his debts, using fake accusations of intrigue and idolatry to achieve his goals

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book sketches a general as well as anecdotic history of the Knights Hospitallers, from their beginning in 1113 over their rise in power, their arrival in Rhodes and eventually Malta to their demise in 1798 when the French Napoleon Bonaparte invades the Maltese islands.

Though the book offers a lot of information, the used vocabulary is meager and at times somewhat annoying. However, if you're a history fanatic as I am, don't let that bother you.

[Malcolm Meli · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a very informative book entailing the foundations of the Knights of St John way back in Jerusalem, founded by the Blessed Gerard that keeps going until today. I deeply enjoyed reading this book, however I was frustrated at the terrible editing the book had: sentences not being coherent and phrases being repeated erroneously multiple times. My edition is 2017th, so I am quite surprised how since 1992 there hasn't been any revisions?

[Ben Daniels · Rating 3 out of 5]

Covers some really interesting history with a great level of familiarity and depth. You can feel the authors reverence and compassion for the Knights order throughout the book. Sometimes the author gets lost in particulars or side tracked by seemingly irrelevant events in parts of the books which feel like a distraction and are a bit of a sludge. Im not sure if this was self-published or not, there are quite a few errors throughout the books print and its of a pretty low quality.

[Jan Peter van Kempen · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting, though somewhat dry (slightly dull in dome parts) account about the history of the knights of Malta. A substantial part of the book is, of coirse, devoted to invasion of the Turks (or rather Ottomans) in 1565, and the subsequent battle. Indeed three months that changed European history!

[Tudor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice and lively description of the 268 year stay of the order in Malta, but like has been previously said the book screams for a better editing. The author's predilection for " notwithstanding" and ghosts stories makes it a chuckling read.

[Σωτηριος Γκολνας · Rating 4 out of 5]

A synoptic history of the Order of St.John but I feel like there are better historic books about them