The Malta Royal Opera House, destroyed in World War II, remains a powerful cultural emblem and a source of national nostalgia. But what is the story behind this lost landmark? The two volumes penetrate deeply into the theatre’s history from its first construction to its final ruin, setting it within its international context and highlighting the tensions between political authority and theatre administration.

Book One: Design and construction; the first devastation by fire
Sets the context. Analyses architect Edward Middleton Barry’s designs; describes the building’s exterior and long-overlooked interior; presents rediscovered scenography that astonished audiences; and explains the 1873 fire and the introduction of electricity to Valletta and the opera house.

Book Two: From reconstruction to destruction, and beyond
Describes the Maltese-led reconstruction and the new technologies generated; examines management, operations, audiences, and international stars; and, in an epilogue, reviews later rebuilding proposals. Designed and richly illustrated by Daniel Cilia and based on groundbreaking research and newly discovered imagery, the two volumes offer a comprehensive history of the Malta Royal Opera House and provide fresh insight into the protagonists and patrons who made it a symbolic focus of Malta’s European cultural identity.