The Iron Knight of Malta - Hardcover

Caruana Mbe, Joe L

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1481788469 ISBN 13: 9781481788465

Publisher: Authorhouse UK, 2013

Synopsis

The author has written this novel with a sentimental feeling about the land of his ancestors, the Maltese people. A people who have shown remarkable courage and faith on many occasions in the history of the Mediterranean. The story of this book tells of their courage during the Great Siege of 1565, just as Voltaire said, "No siege is better known than that of the Great Siege of Malta." The five-century-old religious fight between Christians and Muslims, known as the battle between the Cross and the Koran, drifted to the shores of Malta where the Order of St. John had their headquarters. It produced many heroes and tyrants, several of these are the subject of our novel. The great sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, unchallenged emperor of the Great Ottoman Empire, tries to impose Islam over Christian Europe. During five centuries, the Christian Crusaders were slowly expelled from the Holy Land, and now the great sultan drives out the Order of St. John from their last stronghold, the fortress in the island of Rhodes. Then the battle shifts to the brave Island of Malta where its people play an important role in helping La Valette and the Order fight the Turks. Jean De La Valette, commander of the Order's Christian navy, knight-adventurer, and defender of the faith, engages famous Muslim pirates, like Barbarossa and Dragut Reis, and harasses on the huge Turkish navy. He seeks to recover the Holy Cross taken by the Saracens. Th e secret of a forbidden romance in the paradise island of Rhodes haunts this warrior monk of eighty-four battles-a unique man enslaved by the Saracens and then escapes. He is later elevated to the position of grand master of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem and Rhodes. He was considered by his peers to be "the man for the moment" restoring the order to its former glory. One man, Jean De La Valette, the greatest of the grand masters, "the rarest of human beings," defeats the sultan's Ottoman army in the Great Siege of Malta in 1565. La Valette became known as the Scourge of Africa and Asia, the Shield of Europe, fearless and indomitable, by his Holy Arms. With only seven hundred Knights and several thousand Spanish, Italian, Portuguese soldiers and fifteen thousand Maltese civilians (men, women, and children alike), he repels the great Turkish army of over forty thousand troops. A great historical novel of a great man and a valiant and victorious people, the people of Malta.

About this title

About the Author:

Joe L. Caruana. MBE, is the author of two previous books. His first book "Spirit of the Phoenicians", published in 2009 is an autobiography. He boasts of being a descendant of the ancient Phoenicians hence the title. Joe currently lives in the Rock of Gibraltar where the Mediterranean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean. His Maltese ancestors lived in Malta, Port Said, Egypt and in the 1800's they moved to Gibraltar. Joe has travelled extensively though Europe and USA, having lived in Canada and England for many years. He worked in the Industrial Diamond Industry and later in the Oil and Gas drilling industry in Canada, Cuba, Venezuela and in many States in the USA. When, in 1967, he returned to Gibraltar he went into local politics and was elected into the now Gibraltar Parliament and served as Minister for Health Services and later as Minister for Public Works. Joe is also an accomplished and popular fine-art painter and prolific media letter writer. (Paintings website. www.joecaruana.com ). When he once again returned to Gibraltar, after retiring at the age of 49 years, he dedicated all his time to helping Drug Addicts and Alcoholics, setting up the first Rehabilitation centre in the general area of Gibraltar, and 20 years later, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II awarded Joe the MBE, the Most Venerable Order of the British Empire. His second book came out in 2011, "When The Hangman Came", a true and brutal murder story that took place in 1930 in Gibraltar, with the alleged murderer hanged by the neck. Joe's research uncovered documents not disclosed during the trial that puts the verdict of 'Guilty' into doubt. Joe brings to life conditions in the British Colony of Gibraltar in '30s. The book is available through Authorhouse, Amazon and can be obtained as an e-book from Kindle.

About this edition

• Publisher: Authorhouse UK
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1481788469
• ISBN 13: 9781481788465
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 324