Constitutional History of Malta 1800-1914

"Dr Hilda Lee's excellent monograph analyses the difficulties ... posed for the Colonial Office and the local administration in their dealings with the islanders, who, throughout the century and beyond, continually demanded the granting of constitutional concessions which the Imperial Government, ever mindful of the role of Malta as a fortress and naval base, were prepared to grant only grudgingly and never in toto. "
Michael L. Dockrill
Professor of Diplomatic History, King's College London

"Constitutional arrangements, the make up and powers of the Council of Government, and the numbers and powers of its elected members were the subjects of unending discussion between the British government and those elements in Malta desirous of extending the range of Maltese control. The detailed discussion of these problems, in the context of overriding strategic requirements, is the substance of this book. [T]he task is done in thorough fashion, furnishing in the small an interesting and useful case study of the operation of that impressive creation, the British Empire."
Rene Albrecht-Carrie
Professor of History, Barnard College, Columbia University

"Lee's heavily documented book indicates that Britain's assumption of supremacy in the Mediterranean was based on the efficiency with which the Maltese Islands were turned into an impregnable naval fortress. [This book] is a historical analysis worth reading."
Charles Galea Scannura
Hon. Secretary, Malta Historical Society