The Knights of Malta

by H.J.A. Sire

In this handsome book, H.J.A. Sire provides the first complete history of the Order of St. John, also called the Knights of Malta, from its military and political role during the Crusades to the modernized Catholic institution that it is today. Generously illustrated, the book contains numerous examples of the Order`s enormous art and architectural legacy over nine centuries.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Medieval History, Catholic

Paperback

First published February 23, 1994

About the author

Henry Sire (H. J. A. Sire) is an author and historian. Sire was born in 1949 in Barcelona to a family of French ancestry. He was educated in England at the Jesuits' centuries-old Stonyhurst College and at Exeter College, Oxford, where he gained an honors degree in Modern History. He is the author of six books on Catholic history and biography, including one on the famous English Jesuit, writer, and philosopher Father Martin D'Arcy, SJ.

Sire's book The Dictator Pope is the fruit of his four-year residence in Rome from 2013 to 2017. During that time he became personally acquainted with many figures in the Vatican, including Cardinals and Curial officials, together with journalists specializing in Vatican affairs.

Reviews

[Skallagrimsen]

More an encyclopedia of information about the Knights of Malta than a narrative history. Lots of illustrations, maps, graphs, and sidebars. I found it useful and interesting, but perhaps only because I was already fascinated by this esoteric subject and determined to learn all about it. For the general reader, I'd recommend The Great Siege: Malta 1565, by Ernle Bradford. It is also informative, but reads like a gripping novel. Bradford also wrote a decent general history on the subject, The Knights of the Order.

[Val Finnell, MD, MPH · Rating 4 out of 5]

This an illustrated, coffee-table style book. It offers a pictorial history on the Knights of Malta that is very interesting and should be on the bookshelf of any student of Christian history. Without the Knights of Malta, Europe would have fallen to the Turks.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully and copiously illustrated, as well as coherently organized, this book is both a fascinating and exhaustive history of the Knights Hospitaller / Knights of Rhodes / Knights of Malta from their origins in the 11th century through to the present day, and a sometimes passionate love-ode to perduring Catholic nobility. In this vein, the author reveals his bias as solidly anti-anti-Catholic and pro-aristocracy.

All in all an enjoying and edifying read