The book breaks new ground in so far as it brings together the information from extensive archival research into a variety of primary sources. The author's findings on an exhaustive data base on Naxxar and its satellite villages and hamlets covering the period between 1546 (when Naxxar parish records start) and 1610, shed insightful light on such diverse aspects of village life as life expectancy, child labor, migration, defense strategy, trade, morality, place-names, agriculture, land ownership, religious practices, and other patterns of behavior and the parish scene. The book is a major contribution to Malta's social history since, together with other studies, provides important insights and essential tesserae in the building up of the mosaic of our island's past.