Author: Godwin Vella
Photography and design: Daniel Cilia
Publisher Heritage Malta 2014
Extent: 144pp
2014 was the year of anniversaries - the 50th anniversary of Independence, the 40th anniversary of the Republic, the 35th anniversary of Freedom Day and the 10th anniversary of EU accession.
To commemorate these events, Heritage Malta organised a big exhibition in the Grand Salon of the National Museum of Archaeology, a walk-through of Malta's history graphically exhibited around 100 objects.
The exhibition was a success but then, like all exhibitions, it had to come to an end and be dismounted. Which is a pity for it serves to function as a condensed history of Malta, whose history is mesmerizing.
Out of that exhibition came this book. Contrary to what some might expect, this book does not replicate the exhibition: there was quite a feeling of seeing at close quarters some of Malta's past history, which one does not get from the book.
On the other hand, the book contains photos, which as I remember, were not all at the exhibition. For that we have to thank the great photographer Daniel Cilia and his striking photos which many times show us objects we know but see in a different light.
The text is quite interesting, with some insights into Maltese history we may not have thought about. But as I many times remark about books written in English by non-English writers, the text should have been polished and pruned by a native English person.
Having said that, I must also profess a wry admiration for the way the author glosses over the traumatic years since Independence, making history seem as one seamless process, when we all know how it was a series of hard battles.
The book is a treasure to keep - not only do we find in it a history of Malta for those whose knowledge may be sketchy but also we find photos of rare beauty.