?Always vulnerable due to their strategic position in the Mediterranean, Malta and Gozo have been invaded and occupied by successive forces: Greeks, Romans, Muslims from North Africa, Normans, Spaniards, the Knights Hospitaller of St. John?who built the city of Valletta?Napoleonic troops, and the British, who remained until independence in 1964. Each period of Malta?s turbulent history has added to its rich cultural fabric, and produced its own literature, which is gathered in this original collection. These extracts reveal how generations of writers have viewed the landscapes of Malta and Gozo, the people of the islands, the splendours of Valletta and its famous harbor, and the celebrated festas.