Lord Strickland, plots and intrigue in colonial Malta by Victor Aquilina is a new title published by Kite Group. The first edition of the title was published in 2019 and was sold out in a few weeks.
Lord Strickland, by far one of the most outstanding political figures in colonial Malta, was as controversial as socialist firebrand Dom Mintoff. Most of the politicians of his time have long faded into history but Strickland's name still resonates today. This work explores the political plots hatched against him and gives a blow-by-blow account of the controversies and political intrigue that plagued his turbulent life. Strickland's contribution to Malta's social and political advancement is often undervalued, mainly because of myths and unfounded claims that overshadowed much of his work.
Strickland served in no fewer than four governorship posts in the colonial service. When he was the island's prime minister, he was, for a time, concurrently a member of two parliaments, Malta's legislative assembly and the House of Commons. What dominates Strickland's life is a bitter dispute with the Church over its interference in politics. It was one of the most classic clashes between Church and State in modern times, directly involving Vatican and British chancelleries in power politics. This work goes deeply into claims, proved to have been unfounded, that Strickland was a Freemason, and reconstructs the attempt on Strickland's life at the law courts in 1930. History has been generally unkind to Strickland. This re-evaluation of his political life and times, anchored firmly in the context of the time, attempts to put him in a better light.
Another new title by the same author is How King Tom ruled Malta and the Ionian Islands, Rivalry for power in Mediterranean. There can hardly be a more eccentric British colonial administrator than Thomas Maitland, Malta's first governor and lord high commissioner of the Ionian Islands. He wasn't called King Tom or an ape of Napoleon out of admiration or respect, but for the despotic manner he ruled Malta and the Ionian Islands. Maitland lies buried - unwept, unhonoured, unsung, and unnoticed - in one of Malta's iconic spots, a garden perched high on top of a mighty bastion overlooking the Grand Harbour. Maitland ruled at a time when Britain had become the dominant naval power in the Mediterranean. He brooked no interference and, though he piloted important reforms in all the places he governed, his work is overshadowed by his ruthlessness. This account, which may be regarded as a sequel to the author's Napoleon: 'Malta or War', also brings out episodes that drew sharp criticism, such as the oppressive manner in which he enforced London's policy of neutrality in the Greek war of independence.
His little-known love affair with a Sinhalese gypsy dancer in Ceylon, which he governed before moving to the Mediterranean, gives a human touch to a story of a colonial administrator who, regardless of his good and bad points, has left a mark on the history of Malta and the Ionian Islands.
Signed copies of the titles will be available at the Book Festival between 4 and 8 November at MFCC Ta' Qali or by visiting www.kitegroup.com.mt