The Great Siege: Malta 1565 (Wordsworth Military Library.) [Paperback]

Ernle Bradford (Author), Ernle Dusgate Selby Bradford (Author)

Book Description

Series: Wordsworth Military Library. | Publication Date: June 1999

In 1565 the Ottoman Empire was at its peak. Under their sultan, Solyman the Magnificent, the Turks had conquered most of Eastern Europe. The rulers of Christian Europe were at their wits' end to stem the tide of disaster. The Knights of St John, the fighting religious order drawn from most of the nations of Christendom had been driven from their island fortress of Rhodes 40 years earlier. From their new base of Malta their galleys had been so successful in their raids on Turkish shipping that the Sultan realised that only they stood between him and total mastery of the Mediterranean. He determined to obliterate the Knights of Malta. This reconstruction of the Siege of Malta brings history alive, and carries the reader through many battles, the heroism and the hunger to the relief which came, nearly too late, and the final victory.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Wordsworth Military Library (June 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1840222069
• ISBN-13: 978-1840222067
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,241,383 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #47 in Books > History > Europe > Malta

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How Did Hollywood Miss This One!, June 20, 2000

By 

doug bonforte (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Great Siege: Malta 1565 (Wordsworth Military Library.) (Paperback)

If you like such movies as "BRAVEHEART", "BEN-HUR" and "ZULU!", this book is for you; I couldn't put it down. Although written in the early 1960's, it remains THE landmark work on the Great Siege. The author paints such incredibly vivid pictures of the principal actors, the period and the heroic battle actions that he brings the Siege to life. While the book is a bit short on specific details for the serious historian, it more than compensates for this with its crisp, almost electric pace and non-stop action. Indeed a 1999 retelling of the Siege showed clear tribute to Bradford by aping his prose, but the result was a clumsy, ham-handed effort. Stick with this one - the original - and you won't go wrong. This is storytelling at its finest.

For those with a little imagination, "The Great Siege" will be the best war movie you'll never see. Whether you like fiction or history, this book is sure to please.

53 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Determined Attack, Dauntless Defense, June 16, 2004

By 

George R Dekle "Bob Dekle" (Lake City, FL United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Great Siege: Malta 1565 (Wordsworth Military Library.) (Paperback)

In the mid 1500's the Ottoman Turk Suleiman the Magnificent was a septagenarian, but he still was the most powerful ruler in the world. He had carved out an empire in the Middle East, and he wanted to expand it into Europe.

A small group of men on a miniscule island in the Mediterranean didn't exactly stand in his way, but they were a bloody nuisance. They were the Knights of St. John of the Hospital, a relic of the Crusades. Driven from the Holy Land, they had settled in Rhodes and become pirates preying on Moslem shipping. The Turks had twice beseiged Rhodes and finally driven out the pesky Knights, but the Knights took refuge on Malta and continued to be a thorn in Suleiman's flesh.

Suleiman decided to destroy them, capture Malta, and use its port as a base of operations against Europe. He sent an armada and an army to do the job, and a few thousand defenders faced off against tens of thousands of invaders.

The Turks decided to capture the harbor first so that their ships would have a safe haven against possible storms. A small fort called Fort St. Elmo stood in their way. They figured they could overwhelm the Fort in less than a week, occupy the harbor, and the rest of the island would soon fall to their attack.

When we think of famous last stands, we think of the Alamo and Thermopylae. The Spartans withstood the Persians for 3 days at Thermopylae. The Texans withstood the Mexicans for 13 at the Alamo. Fort St. Elmo stood for an entire month before it finally succumbed. The defenders of Fort St. Elmo fought stubbornly and to the last man, enduring unimaginable hardship, and they wrought terrible slaughter on the Turks.

When the fort fell, the Turks took no prisoners and mutilated the bodies of the fallen defenders. Grand Master La Vallette of the Knights responded by decapitating all his Turkish POW's and using the severed heads as cannonballs to bombard the enemy. Then the battle for Malta began in earnest, with no quarter asked and none given.

The seige of Malta is a gripping tale of brutality, courage, and tenacity peopled with larger-than-life protagonists like Suleiman the Magnificent, Grand Master La Vallette, and Dragut the Barbary Coast pirate.

47 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stunning read, brilliant story, absolutely compelling!, June 11, 2001

By 

Sailoil - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Great Siege: Malta 1565 (Wordsworth Military Library.) (Paperback)

I just don't know how this story has escaped the clutches of Hollywood. The Great Siege of Malta has to be one of the most amazing conflicts of military history. The might of the Ottoman Empire thrown against a miniscule band of ageing knights of the Order of St John. How could Malta ever hope to hold for even a week?

Ernle Bradford gives a clear and informative account of the events of the siege, based on good research. There is no need for him to dramatise the story. This is compelling reading and a story that tells itself.

If you don't know this story you have to read it. No excuses, believe me, you want to read this story. History never was as good as this in school.

This book does not have five stars for nothing. Listen to me, you have to read it. (anyone would think I was on commission here).