The Great Siege of Malta

An engrossing new study… Bull’s account of the siege itself is lucid and dispassionate. He has a sharp eye for bombast – representing the failed defence of St Elmo as a heroic act of self-sacrifice, for example – that might obscure uncomfortable truths… Bull has set himself a challenging task: to convey the drama of the siege and the myths that grew out of it while downplaying, if not denying, suggestions of its wider historical importance. It’s a difficult balancing act, but one he pulls off with aplomb – Mathew Lyons * Literary Review *This is an enjoyable book, written by a skilled historian who has read very widely… Everyone will learn something from reading Bull’s work – Noel Malcolm * Telegraph *Marcus Bull’s revisiting of the siege through the eyes of the Ottomans and a global lens that shifts our angle of vision has made a considerable contribution to our understanding of the events of 1565… his approach is investigatory, based on a forensic study of all the available evidence and posing open-ended questions… the coverage of the siege itself is succinct and full of interesting perspectives – Roger Crowley * Engelsberg Ideas *‘Impressive, deeply researched… Rather than pursue old religious agendas and messianic readings of the triumph Bull places the siege in a broad global economic and political context – Andrew Lambert * Naval Review *Thorough and propulsive – Michael Prodger * New Statesman *A vivid account of a close-run thing … peculiarly fascinating – David Horspool * The Oldie *Thoughtful and incisive… a great strength of Bull’s book is precisely that he often dissents from received opinion… he has provided an impressive reassessment, rich in penetrating insights, of a major moment in the history of the Mediterranean – David Abulafia * TLS *An epic account… [a] no-nonsense, myth-busting book… [Bull] writes with knightly brio and packs a great deal of local and global history into his authoritative book – Pratinav Anil * The Times *

Marcus Bull is Andrew W. Mellon Distinguished Professor of Medieval and Early Modern Studies at the University of North Carolina. He has written extensively on Europe from the tenth to the sixteenth century with a particular emphasis on crusading in all its many forms.