The Knights of Rhodes

Description: 1521 has arrived. A new year in a new world with new nations new continents new knowledge and new rulers. Never before had so much power been gathered in such young hands. The tenth Sultan the twenty-six-year-old Suleiman ascends to his fathers throne in one of the worlds most powerful empires. The rest of the world hopes that the eastern threat has faded. Rhodes is Christendoms closest and most defiant outpost against the East. There the Knights of St. Johns Grand Master has died. Strife and treachery await his successor. Some hundred knights have the task to defend the outpost. Their Grand Masters motto is Victory or Death. Endorsements: Bishop Bo Giertz knew that faith itself is adventure into unknown territories and on paths uncharted. This novel set in the turbulence of an emerging new world in the sixteenth century is a saga about the resilience of faith a faith that overcomes destiny. It is a potent story unadorned by shallow sentimentalities that invites readers to ponder the goodness of a God who engages human beings with all of their frailties and foibles as instruments of His service. --John T. Pless Concordia Theological Seminary This little known work of Bo Giertz (elegantly translated by Bror Erickson) is remarkable. Not only does it recount a pivotal yet long forgotten conflict between Islam and Christendom; its gripping narrative is sure to draw its readers into the convictions and passions that surrounded the Ottoman assault on the island of Rhodes in 1521. --Adam S. Francisco Concordia Theological Seminary About the Contributor(s): Bo Giertz the late beloved Bishop of Gothenburg and author of The Hammer of God shows in The Knights of Rhodes his wonderful ability to blend history theology and a strong narrative.