Customer Reviews

Malta 1565 : Last Battle of the Crusades

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This is one of the very best of the Osprey Campaign series. The author succinctly describes the strategic background to the campaign, opposing plans, leaders and the forces involved. Order of Battle information is a bit sketchy. Once the Turks arrive, it became a bitter fight to the finish between two experienced and fanatical forces. This story is very interesting for military professionals to study because the outcome of the siege was close throughout, requiring imaginative use of "combat multipliers" and sound generalship. Both the heroism and leadership of La Valette are well told by the author. The maps depicting the key actions are excellent. Perhaps there are some minor errors (and what work of history is without error or omission?), but in this book there is a pathos of a long ago battle that is brought to vivid life by the author.

This book is a very fine example how alive history can be - if it is told with passion and an eye for all the little details besides the bare numbers, dates and names usually found in history books. Also, the fabulous illustrations add to the whole captivating experience. This book is like one of those great Hollywood movies from the past - colorful in every detail, with big heroes and mortal confrontations, traitors and spies, and all sorts of unexpected twists and turns of fate. Of course you know that the good guys will win eventually ,but the suspense keeps you at the edge of your seat. This might well be the best book yet in the already exceptional Osprey Military Campaign Series.

The Great Siege of Malta was one of the most epic battles of the Wars of Religion. To date, the most popular book on this topic has been Ernle Bradford's "The Great Siege". While a gripping and highly readable account, it fell far short on providing specific details of the conflict. Despite this, it was responsible for developing my strong interest in the battle, and remains a personal favorite.

When I first heard of impending publication of Mr.Pickles work - and by Osprey Publications no less, reknowned for their level of research - I went so far as to pre-order it, sight unseen. Unfortunately, the initial high hopes held for this book were quickly dashed.

There are no new insights offered, and the level of historic detail is wanting. Armchair military historians are offered little in the way of explanation of unit organization, tactics, logistics or command structures. Indeed, in some ways the book is a step backward, in that its maps, while colorful, contain incorrect dates, events and troop locations.

Evidence of a general sloppiness of research is further reflected in the sparse bibliography, which ignores such critical contemporary works as Bosio's "History of the Order of St. John", as well as more modern efforts like John Guilmartin's "Gunpowder and Galleys." How this surprisingly short list of references got past the eye of Dr. David Chandler, the highly respected editor of the Osprey series, is a source of wonder.

Finally, the author's proposed rules for wargaming the Siege betray his unfamiliarity with the medium; if attempted, the amount of die rolling required by a game player would quickly send them to the hospital with a wrist injury. Its best to just pass them by.

Its not that this so much a 'bad' book, as much as its just so... mediocre. Primarily, it boils down to a retelling of Bradford's tale, but with some flashier pictures and a far heavier hand. A disappointment.

The 1565 siege of Malta matched the surrounded and outnumbered Christian Order of the Knights of St John against the invading Islamic Army of the Sultan of the Ottomen Turks. It was one of the last battles of a two hundred year clash for control of Palestine and the Eastern Meditteranean Sea, and a high water mark of Islamic arms. A Turkish success would extend the sea control of the Ottoman Empire into the Central Meditterranean and open a way into Italy. A victory by the Knights of St. John would turn back the Turkish thrust and help save a Christian Europe from Ottoman domination.

Tim Pickles' "Malta 1565" is an Osprey Campaign Series entry and a decent introduction into a completed political and military event. Pickles does an adequate job summarizing the origins of the battle and the two contending sides. His description of the actual siege lays out the sequence of events, the clever uses of siegecraft, and the high drama of a savage and hard-fought battle. The narrative is supported by a nice selection of maps, battle graphics, and artwork.

Pickles rather takes sides in the battle, and this colors his description of the resulting events. However, "Malta 1565" is an adequate introduction into the siege, and recommended to students of warfare on that basis.

I am a Maltese historian focusing on this period of Mediterranean history. I bought this book because it was cheap, and cheap it was.

Look elsewhere if you want a truthful account of history. The Great Siege: Malta 1565, by Ernle Bradford is one of the best contemporary books around.

I just finished reading Roger Crowley's thrilling account of the 1565 Siege of Malta in "Empires of the Sea". I purchased "Malta 1565" to supplement Crowley's book. True to Osprey's reputation for rich graphics, "Malta 1565" has beautiful maps and interesting images of the uniforms worn during the period. Where the book lost me was in Tim Pickles mediocre retelling of the events surrounding the dramatic siege.

The strength of Osprey Publishing is they publish books about obscure military topics. There is no better source for uniform plates for little known conflicts. Unfortunately, Osprey's problem often times lie in the mediocre quality of the writing. For every talented historian, Osprey publishes the works of the not so gifted enthusiasts.

In this volume, Tim Pickles does a decent job of getting out the facts. He writes clearly but often times his approach is too polemical. In his world view, the Turks are religious fanatics and the Christians are stalwart defenders of Western culture. The Siege of Malta is one of the most compelling and dramatic battles in European history. If there were ever a battle that called for great writing, it is this one. It will take a little bit more time and effort but read Roger Crowley's "Empires of the Sea" or Ernie Bradford's classic "The Great Siege: Malta 1565".

Mr. Pickles's scholarship aside, the dedication of this book and the afterward reveal a strong bias in favor of the Knights of Malta. The book is dedicated with gushing adoration to Mr. Pickles's father-in-law, who apparently was a modern member of that order. The afterword professes that chivalry lives on in the modern era, epitomized by the charitable works performed by the current members of the order. Mr. Pickles's personal enamour for chivalry in general and the Knights of Malta in particular cast doubt on the impartiality of his conclusions.

After yawning through the first few chapters of Mr. Pickles latest attempt, I gratefully fell asleep and never picked Malta up again. Apparently Mr. Pickles fell asleep during his research for the book as well, as the number of inaccuracies in his research are astounding- I advise him to start publishing under the pseudonym "General Doofus". Don't buy this book unless you want to indulge the pocketbooks of a talentless author who spends more time pretending to be a General in lieu getting his facts straight. He should be drafted into service and sent to the front lines of any conflict we can find- then maybe he can learn to author a decent book.