A recent publication sponsored by the Sliema local council includes a feature on the history of the Stella Maris Band Club.

The author, Herbert Naudi, a member of the club who shows interest in all that happens in the Sliema area, has taken the initiative to record and publish the history of the club.

The volume runs into 300 pages and is accompanied by more than 100 pictures of past events relating to the band and to Sliema in general. It records episodes and various personalities connected with the band and the Sliema parish.

Naudi has been diligently and patiently collecting information over the years about this band, the earliest musical association in Sliema. In the process, he has amassed invaluable details about both the history and development of the Sliema district, which are featured in this book.

This has enabled him to put his chronicles within the appropriate social context.

He has succeeded in putting together an interesting and readable narrative, underlying the enthusiasm and pride of Sliema citizens in years gone by towards Sliema and their interest in discovering historical links between Sliema and the Knights of St John.

Indeed, the first known band at Sliema was called Cavallieri di Malta. It was lead by patriotic gentlemen who held high their national sentiments and did not fail to commemorate the national day.

This book is a fitting tribute not just to the Stella Maris band but to Sliema and its people. Sliema citizens who cherish the town’s history and are keen to expand their knowledge about the emergence of Sliema and its culture through the last century and a half should not miss reading it.