Cassola’s ‘Suleyman the Magnificent and 1565 Siege’ published in France

The book by Arnold Cassola, entitled Soliman le Magnifique et Malte en 1565 - Decisions, Preoccupations, Consequences, has just been published in France by L’Harmattan of Paris. Translated by Bernard Blesson, who is based in Paris, the book has benefited from a translation grant by the Malta National Book Council.

This new publication by Arnold Cassola forms part of the series entitled “Historiques”, a series directed by Vincent Laniol, Bruno Péquignot and Denis Rollan. This series aims to present the most recent research in historical sciences. The collection is open to the diversity of study themes and historical periods.

The series is divided into two sections: the first, entitled “Travaux”, is open to studies respecting a scientific approach, which means that the emphasis is particularly placed on university research, while the second, entitled “Sources”, aims to publish testimonies of contemporaries relating to events of historical importance or to publish any text whose distribution will enrich the documentary corpus of the historian.

After having allowed the Knights of the Order of Saint John to leave Rhodes in 1522, Suleyman decides to definitively eliminate the ‘infidels’ who have taken refuge in Malta and who still represent a threat to Ottoman supremacy in the centre of the Mediterranean.

In this work, thanks Ottoman sources and the testimony of other contemporary sources, Cassola takes the reader into the heart of the formidable armada set up to invade Malta, from the preparations until the return to Constantinople after the failure of the Siege.

The book can be obtained from L’Harmattan