Review: The 21: A Journey into the Land of Coptic Martyrs by Martin Mosebach

Synopsis: Behind a gruesome ISIS beheading video lies the untold story of the men in orange and the faith community that formed these unlikely modern-day saints and heroes.

 In a carefully choreographed propaganda video released in February 2015, ISIS militants behead twenty-one orange-clad Christian men on a Libyan beach.

 In the West, daily reports of new atrocities may have displaced the memory of this particularly vile event. But not in the world from which the murdered came. All but one were young Coptic Christian migrant workers from Egypt. Acclaimed literary writer Martin Mosebach traveled to the Egyptian village of El-Aour to meet their families and better understand the faith and culture that shaped such conviction.

 He finds himself welcomed into simple concrete homes through which swallows dart. Portraits of Jesus and Mary hang on the walls along with roughhewn shrines to now-famous loved ones. Mosebach is amazed time and again as, surrounded by children and goats, the bereaved replay the cruel propaganda video on an iPad. There is never any talk of revenge, but only the pride of having a martyr in the family, a saint in heaven. “The 21” appear on icons crowned like kings, celebrated even as their community grieves. A skeptical Westerner, Mosebach finds himself a stranger in this world in which everything is the reflection or fulfillment of biblical events, and facing persecution with courage is part of daily life.

 In twenty-one symbolic chapters, each preceded by a picture, Mosebach offers a travelogue of his encounter with a foreign culture and a church that has preserved the faith and liturgy of early Christianity – the “Church of the Martyrs.” As a religious minority in Muslim Egypt, the Copts find themselves caught in a clash of civilizations. This book, then, is also an account of the spiritual life of an Arab country stretched between extremism and pluralism, between a rich biblical past and the shopping centers of New Cairo. (from the online description)

Review: This book chronicles Mosebach quest to understand the life and beliefs of the 21 men shown beheaded in an ISIS propaganda video. In doing so, Mosebach explores the place of the Coptic Church in Egyptian and Christian history, and the place of these men in the modern events of the Coptic Christians.

Sadly, while Mosebach sincerity was evident, the book itself was a little disappointing. As he journeyed, he discovered there was almost no information about these men. Poor and inconsequential until that video, there was almost no record of their life, save for a few passport photos and the tales of Family who now venerated them as Martyrs in the Coptic Church.

Mosebach narrative makes it seem that these men were extraordinary humans, destined from birth to be martyrs. I cannot tell whether Mosebach is simply honoring the beliefs of the Coptic Church or if he actually believes this. The things spoken of these men cannot possibly be all true, and yet to say that, is to belittle the beliefs of an entire religious group – one known for its strength of faith under hundreds of years of persecution.

A point in Mosebach’s favor is the excellent discourse on the history of the Coptic Church in Egypt. Those portions of the book were intriguing and well-done.

Overall, the book did not reach the depths I was hoping – but whether this was Mosebach fault or simply the lack of information regarding these men, I cannot tell.

Note: I received this book free via LibraryThing's Early Review Program, in exchange for my fair and honest opinion.

Bookmarks: 3 of 5

Awards: None

ISBN: 978-0874868395
Year Published: 2019
Date Finished: 3-23-2019
Pages: 238