Philip or Agias? Christian or Muslim? Faithful or unbeliever? Friend or enemy? Lion or wolf?

1480: The Knights of Rhodes have occupied Rhodes. Mehmed the Conqueror desires the Island of the Sun, the Emerald Island of the Mediterranean, and sends 80 ships to conquer it. In vain, however. The Knights of Rhodes repel the Ottoman attacks three times. The Turks leave humiliated. 1522: Second Siege of Rhodes by Suleiman the Magnificent. The Turks are determined this time to return as victors.

The twin brothers, who outwardly resemble two drops of water, Philip and Joseph, simply play on the beach... Their fate, however, turns without logical cause, just like the heroes in ancient tragedy. Barbary corsairs abduct the more dynamic of the two brothers. One will grow up in his homeland and enjoy a quiet, family life, while the other will experience the magic, allure, and challenges of the City, in the palace of the sultan, yet one mistake alone can prove fatal. Diplomacy, skillful maneuvers, and conspiracies...

However, nostalgia remains unquenchable... The mind and heart travel back to the island where the Knights of Saint John are the masters. Will Philip ever return to meet his childhood love, Maria? Will the common brotherly desire for Maria be fateful? Will the Knights of Rhodes accept him or consider him a turncoat and punish him ruthlessly? And how can he abandon the beloved daughter of Meriem after so many years? Agias in Turkish means freezing. In the twilight of his life, Philip hopes to warm his soul, find redemption, and do everything to achieve it...

As the Dark Ages of the West draw to a close, and at the dawn of the Renaissance, great seafarers set sail for the New World, man increasingly seeks compelling answers to timeless questions of ethics, faith, and soul... answers that will fill his mind and heart with warmth.

The reader follows with undiminished interest this captivating historical novel, "The Crosses of Rhodes," which is a sequel to the successful novel "Hamsin, the Wind of the East" by the Cretan historian and author, Lefki Sarantinou, who now lives in the border region of Thrace. The reader follows the protagonist of the book in his personal quest, in the search for the Holy Chalice of his soul.

Will he find it? Who knows... At least, let him seek it...