Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said that daily bread issues and material conditions related to common citizens in Malta and elsewhere are paramount in the making and writing of history. Dr Muscat made this statement when presented with a copy of “A MATERIALIST REVISION OF MALTESE HISTORY : 870-1919,” by historian Mark Camilleri which offers a fresh look at 1049 years of Maltese history.
“The making of history and the writing of history once more meet here today. Both are humbly servants of facts. Both are conscious of the delicacy of the task at hand.
While walking beside each other, we have our respective methodologies and techniques based on theoretical assumptions and imaginaries. However, my call keeps me grounded on the material conditions on which depends the daily bread of our citizens and of so many other peoples with whom we keep vigil, especially in Europe.” said the Prime Minister.
Dr Muscat said that historians sometimes forget this. They often imagine that ideas are the main moving force of change in society or politics, or even that power is in the main detached from concrete opportunities which make decisions possible.
“Thankfully, researchers such as Mark Camilleri are alert enough to remind them that this is not so. His new publication is perhaps a wake-up call for researchers who need being reminded that history, as I myself can vouch, is mainly a question of what limits human potential to accomplish itself in the face of material odds and risks. We welcome the caution light offered by this book, and the commitment with which he sheds that light.”
A MATERIALIST REVISION OF MALTESE HISTORY : 870-1919 is selling at €15 at local booksellers.
