52 in 25: #13 - The Knights Hospitaller

 This past fall, I was honored to become a (deputy) chaplain for the Order of Malta (formally known as the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes, and of Malta).  As such, I have been interested in reading more about their history, and so I just finished reading John Carr’s The Knights Hospitaller: A Military History of the Knights of St. John.

 

As the title indicates, this is largely a military history of the order, and so it focuses on the first seven hundred years or so of the order, from its founding during the Crusades to their defeat at the hands of Napoleon Bonaparte on Malta in 1798.  As the author indicates, a lot of it is trying to fill in the gaps where records are missing, particularly in the first few hundred years.

 

The Crusades chapters (the majority of the book) were good, though I wish there was a little more emphasis on the good the order was doing during this time.  I was mostly interested in the chapters detailing their time on Rhodes and Malta, especially as the “Navy of the Religion” taking on the Muslim pirates in the Med.  I didn’t know anything about that, and it was interesting to see how they transformed from largely an army to a navy due to their island fortresses.  As might be expected, once they stopped being an actual military force, the book speeds through the last two hundred years, and I wished there was a little more on the hospital trains of the world wars.

 

Overall, it was good to learn more about the Order, and it’s a good supplemental work for anyone interested in military history during these time periods.

52 in 25: #12 - Brothers Down

Last year, when I visited Pearl Harbor, I had a real spark of interest in history that I haven’t felt since completing my PhD over a decade ago.  Since then, I’ve been reading a number of books on the subject.  Most recent was Walter R. Borneman’s Brothers Down: Pearl Harbor and the Fate of the Many Brothers Aboard the USS Arizona.

 

While it does include a fairly good rundown of what happened on December 7, there is the unique perspective of focusing on the 40-some sets of brothers (or father/son) aboard the doomed battleship.  I never realized to that point, it was naval policy to allow and even encourage family members to serve on the same ship to promote comradery and morale.  After Pearl Harbor, and later the Sullivans on the Juneau, it was discouraged in war time.

 

This was a fascinating book.  It’s maybe not the best entry book into Pearl Harbor, but it definitely is a worthy addition to the history.  Personal stories are always, in my opinion, best and most effective.  I highly recommend this for anyone interested in WWII.