
By Sword
Description
In Reformation-era Europe, a peaceful Christian group known as Hutterites has been battered by persecution and migration. Their leader, Jakob Hutter, has been burned at the stake. When a new edict forbids them to share their money and goods, will they go back to living private lives? Or flee yet again? Or take up arms?
Peter Riedemann, a thirty-year-old who has already spent four years in a castle dungeon, is tasked with leading the weary band and uniting its scattered factions. But it will take more than the zeal and faithfulness of one man to come through the next round of challenges.
That story comes to life in this graphic novel, the third in a series that dramatically recreates a little-known chapter in the history of the Reformation. These radicals, labeled Anabaptists by their enemies, were ready to die for their vision. Thousands were executed – by water, by fire, and by sword – in both Catholic and Protestant lands. This action-packed account of young people daring to stand up for their convictions will appeal to today’s nonconformists.
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Persons
Jason Landsel is a New York-based writer and illustrator with a lifelong fascination with the history of social and religious radicalism. He is a regular contributor to Plough Quarterly and a member of the Bruderhof, an Anabaptist community movement that traces its roots to the Radical Reformation.
Sankha Banerjee has illustrated graphic novel adaptations of The Count of Monte Cristo and The Wind in the Willows as well as graphic historical biographies of Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr., and the Wright Brothers. His works have been exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Lyon, France and the India International Centre in Delhi. He is an assistant professor in the Department of Multimedia and Animation, St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata, India.
Richard Mommsen is a scriptwriter, videographer, podcast producer, and director of the Bruderhof’s historical archives.