Customer Reviews

Angels in Iron

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The funny thing is that I knew what the outcome of the battle was before I read this book as probably did most other readers. Yet I don't think I've read a book so quickly in my life. I couldn't stop turning page after page with my heart in my throat to see if yet another Turkish charge could be repelled by the battered defenders near the end of their rope, or whether the unrelenting Turkish bombardment would stop, or whether the Spanish relief force would arrive. The vivid battle descriptions were beyond gripping. Picture Saruman's attack on Helm's Deep or Sauron's army at Gondor and you may get an idea, only this really did happen between humans, and went on for months on end. I got to really care about the main characters and to wish they all could survive to the end (unfortunately most didn't). I could go on and on. This book is an absolute narrative jewel.

On a sideline, it is regrettable how this glorious clash remains obscure in our American culture since most of us probably would not have been interested in picking up this book without prior knowledge. But unlike the Crusades, there are no PC issues in this struggle: The Christians were unquestionably the "good guys" and the Muslims were unquestionably the "bad guys". The Christians were attacked in their own homeland and they only sought to defend themselves from Muslim expansionism. Having said that, though he clearly is partial to the Chrsitians, the author gives a very evenhanded portrayal of the Turks.

This battle must be the greatest testament to what sheer willpower and determination can accomplish. It is also a great lesson as to how the ultimate result of a battle can completely depend on the very earliest dispositions.

JUST GET THIS BOOK!

As the author of a similar genre book, The Spear of Lepanto (2005), I congratulate Nicholas Prata's Angels in Iron. His riveting account of the crucial 1565 Siege of Malta between the Ottoman Turks and the Knights of St. John is a testimony to unyielding faith in the face of staggering odds.

From early childhood, I was always impressed by the courage of King Leonidas of the Spartans. The story of the Battle of Thermopylae (480 BC) has lived in the annals of history as a shining symbol of heroism, bravery and gritty determination.

Just as Leonidas stood in defiance before an overwhelming Persian host with his valiant 300, so did Jean Parisot de la Valette stand some 2,000 years later. As grand master of the legendary Knights of St. John, la Valette, with 592 knights and several thousand Maltese and European volunteers defied for four months the 40,000 plus forces and heavy guns of Suleyman the Magnificent on the tiny island of Malta.

Author Nicholas Prata has given us a new insight and appreciation of this important confrontation that may indeed have saved Christian Europe from the onslaught of Moslem steel. Had it not been for la Valette's stubborn resistance, it is quite apparent that the Italian peninsula would be the next target for Turkish armies from a fortified base at Malta.

Prata gives us chapter after chapter of men refusing surrender in the face of certain death, men who drew strength and a sense of invincibility from their faith. I commend the author for his authentic page turning account of the great siege. Certainly la Valette stands equally with Leonidas when it comes to devotion to duty and dogged determination in the face of incredible odds.

Even if you know the historical facts behind the story, you may be on the edge of your seat. With great detail to the action, Prata brings the Knights of Malta to life once again.
It is perhaps ironic that it does give some insight into the mind of Islam, given current world events. If you, like me, find tales of heroism in the face of unimaginable odds to be irresistable, this book fits the bill.
One thing I would have liked to have seen was more background on the knights and their motivations. (Read it and you will see what I mean!) Very good historical fiction, nonetheless.

Mr Prata did his homework. This is a historical fiction that demands you real it through. The battles are epic. The struggle seems real because it was - much of this is based on the very real battles and terrain of Malta. This is a gem for those interested in Malta, the halt of the Ottomans, or a fantastic struggle.

This is just an exceptionally good read! It's chocked full of action that while graphic at times still has class about it. There's intrigue and side storylines to add to the overall interest. And, militarily speaking, it's realistic in that the reader is informed about how logistics and morale played as important a role in the final outcome of the siege as did weapons and tactics. I found it almost impossible to put down!

Both my 13 year old son and I liked this book. I made the mistake of starting it early one evening and was unable to put it down until it was WAY past my bed time.

Someone should send this book to Mel Gibson. It would make a great movie.

The period in which the book is set is especially interesting. Seige warfare and the supremacy of heavily armored knights fighting at close range are giving way to guns and artillery.

This is not a book for very young children. It is heavy on explicit descriptions of battle that remind me of Homer.

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!

This is my kind of book! Some 300 pages devoted almost exclusively to among the most vividly depicted battle scenes I've ever read. Loved it, though the novel might have benefited from being a tad less battle-heavy and a bit more integrated, if you will. The novels of V.A. Stuart are good examples of what I mean. Still, "Angels in Iron" is the most unputdownable novel I've read since Peter Forbath's "The Last Hero".

OK, the book isn't perfect. There are some grammatical errors. On page 88, for example, Nicholas Prata writes that "less men reached St. Elmo". And there are occasional narrative problems. On page 279, Prata writes that "He [La Valette] was not content to allow the Turks to slip away unmolested, but planned to give Mustapha yet another wound to nurse upon the long journey home". Really? Well, maybe so, but we don't hear of this plan again, let alone of its implementation. To be sure, Mustapha is bloodied one last time, but that event has nothing to do with La Valette. Also, speaking of La Valette, was he always strategically correct? Prata accepts that he was, with little or no reflection. Well, while La Valette is exceptionally admirable (how badly we need him and his Knights today!), I thought that aspects of his St. Elmo strategy left much to be desired. In costing the Turks far more blood than they should have shed for that piece of rock, La Valette won the battle. His men could and should have been removed to fight another day -- and without the slightest tarnishing of honor.

All that being said, this is a terrific read.

Wow! Author Nick Prata has really found a needle in a stack of needles with his first masterpiece. A lucid account of the faith altering siege of Malta, sure to delight even the minor enthusiast of this genre. A book whose content professes extrodinary historical accuracy, adventure, and white-hot emotion. Grace your personal library with this novel, and you won't be disappointed.

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)