Malta a strategic point in the middle of the Med. Frustrated Italian and German efforts to supply their African campaigns. However. By 1942 Germany had already attacked Russia. No forces available to occupy the island. Earlier instead German forces had taken Crete - an island or almost no strategic worth. Hitler instructed that the island needed to be taken out by bombing alone. The land forces, earmarked by Rommel and others for an assault on Malta were instead sent into Rus

A very enjoyable read, it came second in the ‘History Teacher Book Club’ vote but I was so keen to get it read I read it alongside the first choice (Empireland – post to come). I've been teaching the causes of the First World War my whole career without really understanding the complexities or origins of Imperial Germany. This filled in a whole lot of blanks! Below are the notes. German states were previously Habsburg and a group of interlocking, overlapping and transitory ag