Product Description

The year is AD 1523 and the island of Rhodes has just fallen to the Turks. Those sailing away in defeat from this captured bastion are members of an anachronistic crusading order called the Knights of St. John -- otherwise known as the Hospitallers. Among the dejected company is a stalwart young knight named Jean Parisot De La Valette. Were it up to him, the order would have defended the island to the bitter end. Forty-two years later, history has repeated itself. The Hospitallers are again besieged by the teeming armies of the relentless Turk. Their tiny island-fortress of Malta is all that stands between the armies of Suleiman and the very heart of Christendom. But this time the scenario is different -- La Valette wears the Grand Master's cape. Behind him stand the knights of his faithful order: men of incredible valor ready to "strike a blow for Christ" and sacrifice their lives to halt the invading Turks at the gates of Europe. What follows is a desperate struggle between East and West, Cross and Koran, faith and despair. Angels in Iron is based on the actual events surrounding the Siege of Malta in 1565. Nicholas C. Prata relates the tale in riveting and graphic prose which brings the extreme heroism of the knights and the unimaginable horror of combat sharply into focus. Prepare yourself for an epic adventure.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #76297 in Books
• Published on: 2004-04-01
• Released on: 2004-04-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 292 pages

Review
Belongs on the bookshelf of every Catholic man, should be read by every Catholic boy (11 or older). --Latin Mass Magazine

Compellingly written and surprisingly difficult to put down....A fascinating read for adults and teens. --The St. Linus Review

Prata brings this fascinating tale to life by giving the characters real personalities....The book is a real page-turner. --Favorite Resources for Catholic Homeschoolers

About the Author
Nicholas C. Prata resides in Bear, Delaware. His interests include classical history, church history, and politics. His literary interests run the gamut from Shakespeare to modern sci-fi and fantasy. Mr. Prata is also the author of the fantasy epic Dream of Fire (ISBN: 1-889758-28-0) which details the transformation of a blood-thirsty warlord from destroyer to defender.

Customer Reviews

What a leadership!!!
Well done Mr. Prata. Great book. Great fighting scenes. You can smell the flesh, the stink, the gun powder. You pushed me to go to Malta and see the battle scenes where Christian Europe future was saved. Great sentences, great leadership, just great. Some sentences I will ever remember like: "They have all the men in the world, captain (meaning Muslims) and the answer - Throw them!" or "Thousands man here are more than milion promissed!"
I regret these Knights are history, pity we do not have such leaders today. Highly recommend for all who love historical fiction with great leadership and excellent fighting!

Great Suspenseful Read
This book isn't overly long at around 300 pages, but it's tight, every page propelling the story forward. And what a story! The turks are on the move and they intend to flow across Malta like a tsunami, sweeping away all resistance as they prepare to march on Rome itself. All they need to do is crush a small band of knights who make Malta their home since they were expelled them from Rhodes by those same Turks just a few decades before. With overwhelming force, the Turkish armies and navy descend on the rock and bring to bear one of the most devastating bombardments known to history. Outnumbered five to one, these Knights of St John are doomed! Or are they?

This was no mere "sit and wait until the starve" siege, this was steel on steel, cannons blazing action where thousands were struck down only to reveal thousands more still coming. Prata succeeds in conveying the overwhelming desperation of the situation and the hardships endured, the brutality and dehuminizing impact of this most intense siege perhaps in history. Definitely recommended!

Excelent reading, cannot be put down.
To praise from other reviewers I would like to add a heartfelt "WOW!".

I just wonder how come Hollywood hasnt already made some Grand Epic based on this historical heroic episode.

On the PC angle one must say that though the story is told from the Christian view of events, the author makes it clear Turks and muslims were just as much heroic fighting and dying for their beliefs. If St Elmo's defenders were made from true hero stuff, the Janissars and others that led charges against its walls stepping over thousands of their own dead friends surely must be fairly said to be heroes too.

A true, historic and total battle of heroes from all sides that puts to shame even the Trojan War (mostly a legend, btw)