'The Story of Malta' - updated edition out this week

When, as a young man straight from high school, Brian Blouet was sent to Malta to do his national service with the Royal Air Force as a fighter plotter, little did he think he would like the island so much he would end up writing what has become one of the best-selling books about Malta since the late l960s.

Yet, that is exactly what happened. His book, The Story of Malta, goes into its third, updated edition - and tenth reprint - this week, something he could hardly have foreseen when he went to his first publishers, Faber and Faber, in 1964 suggesting a book about the island's landscapes.

Landscapes? "Yes, but when Faber and Faber were not interested in the island's landscapes, I agreed to contribute to their 'The Story of....' series." That's how The Story of Malta came about. The latest edition of the book, which covers the island's geography and history right from the beginning to the present, has a new format and cover.

Progress Press has been associated with Mr Blouet for many years as even when the book was first published by Faber and Faber it made sure to make it available here in no time. It has now been publishing and printing his book since 1981.

"Through the book, a visitor to the island can get an overview which presents, I hope, a perspective that incorporates differing opinions on events. For those wanting to study Malta, the bibliographical essays provide a lead into the rich literature written by scholars from Malta and elsewhere," he said when talking about his work.

How did he look at the time he spent in Malta when he was a fighter plotter? "The pre-university experience on the island, being together with young scholars intending to read history, English literature, physics or economics on returning to the UK, was invaluable."

As a fighter plotter, he worked at the air force operations centre in Lascaris Ditch, which was linked to the air traffic control in Luqa and to the radar stations at Dingli, Wardija and Tas-Silg.

When he returned to Britain in 1957, he went to the University of Hull, completing a degree in geography in 1960. In the final year, he had to write a field study and in summer of 1959 he came back to Malta to work on a paper on farming and land use.

"By this time, I wanted to do research for a post-graduate degree. I had become interested in historical geography and took the opportunity of seeing if the archives of the Order could provide source material for a study of Malta's landscapes in the period 1530-1798. Between 1960 and 1963 I spent much time in Malta working in the archives of the Order for a Ph.D. thesis on the landscapes of Malta."

In addition to the archives of the Order, he worked at the Public Records Office in London on early British records relating to Malta. There were many papers relating to Malta in the Scottish National Library where there were muster rolls of some of the Maltese units fighting the French.

At the Scottish Record Office, he said, there were papers written by Captain Alexander Ball and Samuel Taylor Coleridge specifying the advantages of Britain staying in Malta.

"These Melville papers are revealing on early political alignments in Malta during the British period. There is much more to be done on differing political viewpoints, within Malta, in the 19th century."

Mr Blouet's deep interest in the island's role in the war is well reflected in the kind of comments he makes.

"Malta was a key element in the Allied victory. By the end of summer of 1940, there were just two offshore islands resisting the Fascist conquest of Europe - Britain and Malta.

"The invasion of Sicily, which led to Italian surrender, was launched from Malta in 1943... Without the island bases, it would have been difficult for the allies to invade Europe.

"Through their roles in the war, Britain and Malta made the European Union possible. Without their contribution, we would be living under Hitler's New Order and a very different type of European integration.

"It is a 'damned cheek' that Malta, or Britain, the foundations of modern Europe, even had to apply for entry."

Mr Blouet has taught at the universities of Sheffield, Nebraska, Texas and, over the past 10 years, at the College of William and Mary in Virginia.

What is he working on right now?

"There are other projects in hand. My wife Olwyn and I edit, and contribute to, a geography of Latin America and the Caribbean. Now we are preparing a fifth edition for John Wiley, a publisher in New York. Olwyn is a real historian and an authority on Sir William Reid who, among many activities, was Governor of Malta between 1851 and 1858."

His other works include a biography of Sir Halford Mackinder, a leading British geographer and geostrategist, and a book on Geopolitics and Globalisation in the Twentieth Century, published in 2001.

"At present, I am working on a geography of the European Union and more papers concerning Sir Halford Mackinder, for this year we are celebrating the centenary of his paper - The Geographical Pivot of History - that predicted a German and/or Russian takeover of much of Eurasia. It has taken two world wars and the Cold War to prevent the prediction coming true."

As to his The Story of Malta, which is being distributed this week, he says he is glad that Progress Press wants to keep it going.

"I am happy when on visits to Malta people come up to me saying they had read my book in school. I constantly keep up with Malta, following the newspapers online and reading the many new books about Malta's rich history. Later in the summer, we plan to go to Oxford College in Hertford to work at the fine collection of Malta materials Sir Hannibal Scicluna set up at Rhodes House."