In 1565 the Ottomans attempted to besiege the island of Malta. A new history has been written, and its author describes the Christian victory over Suleiman the Magnificent.
I was first drawn to the Great Siege of Malta, as an academic exercise, by an interest in its many eyewitness sources. How do people caught up in historical events perceive, remember and record their experiences? On a more instinctive level, however, I was powerfully...