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A new book researched by historian Mark Camilleri is expected to reveal hitherto unknown documents related to events leading to Freedom Day. The book, Jum il-Ħelsien: Il-mixja lejn il-31 ta’ Marzu tal-1979 (Freedom Day: The road leading to March 31, 1979), is packed with information backed by documents freshly unearthed from the British national archives in London and the Labour Party’s internal archives at Ħamrun.

The book reveals new facts about what made Mintoff’s undertakings during the 1960s and 1970s possible.

The book also discloses documents shedding new light on the famous Labour meeting in Gozo of May 1961, on the extensive foreign connections forged by the Labour Party while in opposition during the 1960s, Che Guevara’s 1964 reference to Malta’s anti-colonial struggle, Mintoff’s correspondence with Bertrand Russell, and more.

Perhaps Camilleri’s most weighty question asked throughout the book in relation to the road leading up to Freedom Day is this: Freedom from what? What, exactly, had been freed after those years of toil and trouble during the 1960s and 1970s? Is Freedom Day really what it is claimed to be?

The book is being released by Sensiela Kotba Soċjalisti, and will be officially launched by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat on March 24 at Auberge de Castille, to mark the 35th anniversary of Freedom Day.