Description
What were the impressions of a little known 18th century visitor to our country? What did he think of Maltese women? Who were the Maltese personalities who left a long lasting good impression on him? Did he comment about the Maltese language? These questions will be answered in the first chapter. The second chapter will analyse data available in the archives of Syracuse concerning Malta’s commerce with that particular area of Sicily at the beginning of the 19th century. What was the volume of sea traffic between Malta and the nearby Sicilian port? What products were mainly transported? What sanitary measures were taken on arrival? The third and concluding chapter, which will be based on documentation found in the Modica archives, will focus on the role that Italians based in Malta played in the 1860 expedition to Sicily undertaken by Garibaldi and his Mille. Were weapons smuggled betwwen Malta and Sicily? What role did the telegraph system play? Why do the Italian exiles in Malta, Pasquale Calvi, Ruggiero Settimo, Matteo Raeli and Nicola Fabrizi, deserve a special mention? The answers to all these questions will be found in Arnold Cassola’s latest book.
