Malta: The Hurricane Years 1940-41 [Hardcover]

Christopher Shores (Author), Brian Cull (Author), Nicola Malizia (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1987

The long battle for Malta began in June 1940 with the Italian declaration of war on the Allies and the decision of the Axis powers to subdue the island in order to control the Mediterranean. This work provides a detailed day-by-day account of the air battles over land and sea until the end of 1941.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 470 pages
• Publisher: Grub Street (January 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0948817062
• ISBN-13: 978-0948817069
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.4 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,648,482 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A SOBERING STORY OF A SPIRITED DEFENSE OF MALTA, January 13, 2004

By 

MONTGOMERY (WASHINGTON, DC - U.S.A.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Malta: The Hurricane Years 1940-41 (Hardcover)

This book fully details the grim years of the Second World War for Britain in the Mediterranean when a small group of Hurricane fighters helped to keep Malta secure as a valuable base for the British. These planes succeeded the 3 Gloster Gladiator biplane fighters - named 'Faith', 'Hope', and 'Charity' - which constituted for a time the only defense for Malta against the aerial onslaught on Malta by the Italian Regia Aeronautica, which began shortly after Italy declared war on Britain in June 1940.

Though the Hurricane performed well against the Regia Aeronautica, it had a very hard time standing up to the Luftwaffe when it made its presence keenly felt over Malta during 1941. In particular, the Messerschmitt 109 fighter, which outclassed it in almost every respect. Nevertheless, the Hurricane helped to keep Malta free as Britain faced the spectre of defeat in the Mediterranean between 1940 and 1942.