| 
Men of Faith, Men of Abnegation
A Review of Nicholas C. Prata’s
book, Angels in Iron
by Michael Whitcraft
The word Crusader still
evokes the idea of a perfect warrior. It calls to mind a
human type, full of courage with neither reproach nor fear.
It beckons one to an age in which Faith and honor held precedence
over pleasure and comfort. These ideas were resplendent
at the Siege of Malta in 1565, the theme of Nicholas Prata’s
book: Angels in Iron.
Nowhere in history was this almost mythical
concept of a Crusader better fleshed out than in the orders
of chivalry. These monk-warriors struck fear and even admiration
in the hearts of their enemies, provoking the Moslem chronicler
Imad-in-Din to dub the Knights of St. John, “…wicked
Hospitallers, each full of zeal and without weakness.”
The action of the
orders of chivalry rarely shone brighter than through the
actions of the Hospitallers at the Siege of Malta in 1565.
At that time Suleiman the Lawgiver, one of the greatest
emperors of the Ottoman Empire, invaded Malta, hoping to
eradicate the Hospitallers and use the island as a staging
point for an invasion of Italy. He hoped to conquer Rome
and build a mosque in the Eternal City. The island stronghold
was expected to hold out no longer than a couple of weeks.
Outnumbered over four to one, with insufficient
fortresses and greatly outgunned, the knights held their
ground for almost four months, eventually forcing the Turks
to quit the island, leaving behind 30,000 dead.
Nicholas Prata follows the blow-by-blow
details of this siege in his gripping historic novel, Angels
in Iron, available from ARX Publishing.
Dedication and Victory
The book focuses a great deal on fictionalized
characters, yet maintains historic accuracy. This allowed
Mr. Prata to bring the dedication of each individual knight
(as well as the Maltese combatants) to the forefront, a
detail which while purely historic works leave entirely
to the imagination. After reading this inspiring work, one
is drawn to the inescapable conclusion that, above all,
it was the knight’s abnegation for the Faith that
led to victory.
Being a Hospitaller was not a 9 to 5 job.
Each knight joined the order to offer their lives for an
ideal, and they did not hesitate to make good on their offering.
This was exemplified at the Siege of Malta
when the fort St. Elmo, shattered by weeks of relentless
cannon fire, was on the verge of collapse. Grand Master
Jean La Valette, knowing the fort was of key importance
to the survival of Malta, asked for volunteers to reinforce
the battered garrison. Although the assignment meant certain
death, he was flooded with volunteers.
Only a force of such men could be capable
of the heroic feats that were commonplace during the siege.
Yet, without such men, Malta certainly would not have survived
the assault, Europe would have been invaded and the Christian
way of life forever altered.
While the use of fiction allows Mr. Prata
to bring such elements into focus, he often portrays the
knight-monks in a way that hardly seems realistic. For example,
his fictional knights use rough language and one even speaks
briefly of longing for a woman he left before joining the
order. The conversation is not graphic, but highly unlikely
and unnecessary.
A Lesson from Malta
Thus, the TFP recommends Nicholas
Prata’s Angels in Iron with reservations
about its unrealistic portrayal of the knights. The story
is engaging and inspiring. Not only will its non-stop action
keep you on the edge of your seat, but it exemplifies the
virtue of abnegation, so necessary for faithful Catholics
in these trying times.
Angels
in Iron
By Nicholas C. Prata
Paperback - 313 pages (2004)
ARX Publishing, Bristol, Penn.;
ISBN: 1-889758-56-6
$16.95
| 
