Ships, Wine and Wars, a new publication by John Dacoutros, offers an account of turbulent wartime periods in the histories of Greece and Malta, and how the turmoil affected families and businesses.

These anecdotes blend with the Dacoutros family’s international shipping and wine business, their Greek and Maltese ancestry and varied other businesses around the Mediterranean and beyond.

The book focuses on the protagonist Giovanni Dacoutros, the man behind Malta’s largest ship-owning and wine-importing company, also a renowned philantropist.

The author brings into this saga a remembrance of his family’s Greco-Maltese diaspora, recounting tragedies, successes and triumphs, as well as delving into the lives of the thousands of workers employed by Giovanni, such as captains, crews, engineers, coopers and distributors.

The author also describes Malta’s tobacco industry, the many local brewing and drinks industries in Malta and a variety of other industries in which the family was also involved.

The book was made possible thanks to the diaries kept by Giovanni’s children, Peter and Margaret.

Ships, Wine and Wars is hard-bound and is available at most bookshops in Malta and Gozo. For more details send an e-mail to john@dacoutros.com.mt.