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Greetings!
Welcome to the inaugural edition of Books for Travelers! If you’ve just joined the mailing list, welcome! Books for Travelers will come out on alternate weeks to the Destination Curation Newsletter, and feature three books from my Destination Resources reading lists. As a subscriber, you have full and free access to these lists, and I invite you to browse them at your leisure. Each book blurb will take you to a longer review on the Books for Travelers section of my website.
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The Great Siege of Malta: The Epic Battle Between the Ottoman Empire and the Knights of St. John by Bruce Ware Allen
I’ve been writing a lot about Malta this week, and The Great Siege has been an invaluable resource.
The subject matter of this book is a must for military history buffs, but I sank into The Great Siege of Malta for the engaging writing and meticulous research, which was never pedantic, and always enthralling.
Malta punches well above its weight in the pantheon of European history. This tiny Mediterranean island, smaller than many American cities, played an outsized role in one of the more dramatic military confrontations of the 16th century. Bruce Ware Allen’s The Great Siege of Malta: The Epic Battle between the Ottoman Empire and the Knights of St. John brings this pivotal moment to life with the narrative vigor that transforms a visit to Valletta from pleasant sightseeing into an immersive historical experience.
The story of the Great Siege of Malta in 1565 is the stuff of legend: a force of approximately 700 Knights of St. John, along with a few thousand Maltese defenders and mercenaries, held off an Ottoman invasion force estimated at 40,000 men.
The four-month siege that followed would determine not just Malta’s fate, but the balance of power in the Mediterranean for generations to come. It’s the underdog story that seems too dramatic for fiction, yet every bastion, battery, and fortification in modern Valletta bears witness to its truth.
The Ornament of the World: How Muslims, Hews, and Christians Created a Culture of Tolerance in Medieval Spain by Maria Rosa Menocal
As we made our way through Spain this week, I gave several of my favorite talks on Spanish history, including one of my favorites: Islamic Spain. This was a topic that had always intrigued me, and so I relished the opportunity to do a deep dive into the period of 711 - 1492 when the Arabs controlled most of the Iberian peninsula: a time of convivencia, or tolerance, when scholarship, science, and culture flourished.
There are books that inform, and then there are books that transform how you see an entire country. Maria Rosa Menocal’s The Ornament of the World: How Muslims, Jews, and Christians Created a Culture of Tolerance in Medieval Spain firmly belongs in the latter category. It was an essential resource that brought to life the wonder of Islamic Spain, one of the more fascinating chapters of the history of the Iberian Peninsula.
If you’re planning a trip to Spain—particularly to the enchanting cities of Córdoba, Granada, or Seville—this book isn’t just recommended reading. It’s essential. The Ornament of the World was a cornerstone of my research into this exciting period of Spain’s history. It completely changed the way I looked at the entire history of the Iberian Peninsula, and I return to it again and again when I’m visiting this fascinating region.
Many travelers arrive in Spain with certain expectations: flamenco, tapas, bullfighting, and perhaps some vague notion of the Inquisition. But, in The Ornament of the World Menocal reveals a Spain that many never knew existed—a sophisticated medieval paradise called Al-Andalus where Muslims, Jews, and Christians didn’t just coexist, but collaborated to create one of history’s most brilliant civilizations, creating vital links of scholarship, science, and culture between West and East.
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Queens of Jerusalem: The Women who Dared to Rule by Katherine Pangonis
Any study of the Crusades — the religious wars waged by Latin Catholics to recapture the Holy Land — is primarily an exploration of men and their military deeds, with scant consideration of women, save perhaps the redoubtable Eleanor of Aquitaine who accompanied her husband, King Louis VII of France, on the Second Crusade. But the history of the Christian Crusader states established after the success of the First Crusade is a different matter. From 1099 to 1187, the four polities, known collectively as “Outremer” or “the lands beyond the sea” — the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the Principality of Antioch, and the Counties of Tripoli and Edessa — were more often ruled by queens, princesses, and countesses in their own right.
I interviewed Pangonis for The New Books Network, which was a real pleasure. I loved the book, and return to it often for insight into the world of the Crusaders and their rulers in Outremer.
The captivating story of these women is the subject of Queens of Jerusalem: The Women Who Dared to Rule by Katherine Pangonis. In taking up the story of Queen Melisende of Jerusalem, her rebel sister, Princess Alice of Antioch, and their descendants, Pangonis set herself the challenging task of peeling back the layers of recorded history — primarily chronicles written by men — to create a realistic portrait of these vital, ambitious, and dynamic women, a task that requires the historian to wear many hats: archivist, detective, archeologist, and psychologist.
Pangonis is well up to the task; she is an outstanding narrative historian, and in addition to scrutinizing all extant sources on Outremer, Pangonis also took the time to walk in the footsteps of her protagonists, and this allows readers of Queens of Jerusalem to experience medieval Outremer in vibrant detail. The queens, princesses, and countesses of Outremer were keen builders of edifices, which still form parts of the skylines of of the region: the Crusader castles, the Convent of Bethany, and the all-important Church of the Holy Sepulchre. In Queens of Jerusalem this topography leaps off the page in very satisfying detail.
Podcast Recommendations
I am loving Mary Beard’s new podcast, Instant Classics. In addition to a group read of the Odyssey (which no one can or should resist), Beard and her fellow classicist, Charlotte Higgins tackle intriguing topics such as Cassandra, Prophet of the Modern World? and Decoding The Parthenon. Uplifting, compelling, and engaging!
Over on The Ancients, I was delighted by the episode on The First Hawaiians. This is terra incognita for me, and I really enjoyed listening to host Tristan Hughes talk about Hawaii’s history with Dr. Patrick Kirch.
The Rest is History’s epic six-part mini-series on Horatio Nelson is a tour de force: I can’t remember being so frustrated when I had to wait for another episode to drop! Begin here.
Recent Articles to Enjoy
The Knights of St. John: A History of Malta’s Sovereign Order
Review | Bettany Hughes’s The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
What is Spanish Tapas? A Guide to Bar Food in Spain
16 Norway Cruise Ports and Fjords to Explore | 2025
A Brief History of Malta and the Maltese Islands
Exploring Ancient Ephesus from Kusadasi or Izmir
Ancient Greece: Mycenae and Minoan Crete
8 Hours in Dubrovnik: The Best Things to Do and See
The Bayeux Tapestry Heads to England After 950 Years
Spanish and Portuguese Cuisine: Must-Try Dishes
Thank You!
Be sure to check in with the Destination Resources Reading Lists, which I update regularly with new books, podcasts, TV and film, and other resources designed to make your travel meaningful. I did a big update recently, changing the format to make it easier to navigate. Visit via this link!
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I hope you've enjoyed this edition of the Destination Curation | Books for Travelers Newsletter.
If you'd like to share it with a friend, just forward them this URL: https://jennifereremeeva.com/books-for-travelers/ I deeply appreciate your support for my work!
I do love hearing from you -- let me know how I can help make your travel meaningful. As you know, I am rolling out new 8-Hour Guides to popular cruise destinations and love getting suggestions for new ones from this amazing community of readers.
And so we sail onward! I’m looking forward to a joyful return next week to some of my favorite ports: Cartagena, Valencia, Mahon, Barcelona, and Toulon.
Safe onward travels!
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