I haven’t read them yet, but I would say the “Materialist Revision of Maltese History” series by Maltese author Mark Camilleri, there’s one that covers the period 870-1919, and the other one from 1919-1979. He has both books on his blog, unfortunately I haven’t been able to find free versions online. His blog is here

Yes, an Irish/Spanish Republican

I’m from Malta and although our government supports Ukraine (diplomatically not so much materially), they recognise that most Maltese wants to remain neutral.

Yes although I should probably re-read it given it has been some time since I last read it.