The 21: A Journey into the Land of Coptic Martyrs
by Martin Mosebach (translated by Alta L. Price)
Plough, 272pp, £19/$26
This book introduced me to the writing of the German novelist, poet and essayist Martin Mosebach. A Catholic and lover of the Tridentine liturgy, he has tackled a subject highly suited to his gifts as an imaginative writer and man of faith. It is the story of the 21 Coptic migrant workers who were beheaded on a Libyan beach on February 15, 2015 by black-clad, masked ISIS terrorists.
