Casemate 76

THE GREAT SIEGE: Knights v Turks MDLXV:

Stephen C Spiteri. PB, 640pp. Profusely illustrated with colour photos, computer graphic artwork, maps and plans. No ISBN.

Published by the author as a Limited First Edition, 2005. Discount price to all FSG members is Lm22, about £37 (usual price £45) plus airmail postage, UK £10; EU €70, p&p €15; USA $70 + 28; Australia A$ 100+55; New Zealand N$115+60. Order from Stephen C Spiteri, PO Box 19, Valletta, CMR 01, Malta; www.fortress-explorer.org

'This book is a detailed study that goes in search of the Great Siege of Malta as it really happened in 1565, by examining the historical, political and social scenario, the landscape, the fortifications, the military organization, the hardware, the arms and armour and the strategies and tactics of the Hospitaller and Turkish armies.' Author.

Many books have been written on the events described in this new and massive volume, and although the author disclaims any suggestion that his work is definitive, there cannot be many stones he has left unturned.
Many years ago I tried to produce drawings and a story of the siege for a colleague in the Saint John's Ambulance, and found it very difficult to get a clear picture of exactly what fortifications were actually there at the time - pictorial records are often contradictory and indicative rather than definitive, on top of which there has been such vast building subsequently that contemporary fortifications were either destroyed during the siege and rebuilt later, or were completely subsumed by later works. What you see today bears no resemblance to the picture in 1565. So we can be grateful that the author has investigated and read so widely and deeply on our behalf, and used his graphic skills to present things as they (probably) were in such a clear and comprehensible way. He questions many of the assumptions made by subsequent tellers of the tale, particularly aspects such as the size of the Turkish army (greatly exaggerated) and the part played by the native Maltese (greatly underrated). He relies on Balbi (see below) for his main story line, but spreads his net much wider too; and uses, as must anyone, the twelve paintings by Matteo Perez d'Aleccio forming a mural cycle graphically narrating the siege in great detail. Reproductions of details from these murals run like a thread through the narrative.

Detail of Senglea land front as depicted by d'Aleccio. The cavalier is protected by a triangular rivellino. (Stephen C Spiteri)

A key feature of the book is how it addresses in 35 chapters all the many aspects of the siege and its background; the geopolitical setting; the Maltese Islands themselves, particularly the cultural, social and economic life; strategies and tactics of siege warfare (the Turks had plenty of resources to do the job in short order, but there were some strange military decisions made); the fortifications; the Turkish armada; the Hospitaller army; siege and fortress artillery; the Christian cavalry; arms and armour; military engineers; the non-combatants; logistics and supplies; battlefield injuries; and the aftermath and conclusion.
The text is fluent, cogent and eminently readable, though I am not entirely comfortable with the way the story of the progress of the siege is broken up by chapters detailing specific aspects of it.

Birgu Bastion of St James. (Stephen C Spiteri)

The graphic content is superb, all in colour; the book is full of photos, very effective computer graphics, particularly reconstructions of the defences as they were, modern photos overlain with lines indicating original ground levels and other features, and reprints of original plans.
At the back there is a graphic Timeline for the siege, showing how it progressed on both sides, as well as relevant offstage actions, followed by an extensive bibliography and copious chapter end notes.
The book is not without faults; there are some typos and occasional infelicities of phrase, though not to the detriment of comprehension, and the graphic presentation suffers from attempts to fit in every available illustration, which are therefore sometimes very small; and the odd decision to fit many of them into wide inner margins. Since the book is very thick, it can be difficult to open it wide enough to see the pictures and read the captions without damaging the spine. They would be much better in wide outside margins. The book is really crying out to be produced in hardback, but my well thumbed copy is standing up to use much better than I thought such a thick paperback would.
The book is a must for anyone who is at all interested in this event and all that went into it. Highly recommended.

Charles Blackwood.