While you can get away with visiting Mykonos or one of the Cyclades without a guidebook, (since few people need to have instructions on how to lay out in the sun or how to party), a guidebook for Rhodes is essential. There is simply too much of interest to see on the island and particularly in the old city. Its collection of old Turkish mosques, palaces, Inns, churches, ramparts, temples and museums are enough to keep anyone occupied and the more you know about what you are looking at, the more of an impression it will make. These books can be found in Rhodes at Akadimia Bookshop at #93 Amerikis street in the new city (photo). The upstairs looks like a stationary so don't be decieved because downstairs has a wide selection of English language books as well as a variety of other languages and a large selection of Greek books. The owner of the shop is the writer Titsa Christodoulioli who has at least a dozen of her own books in print and is a big fan of Laurence Durrell I discovered when I came looking for the Alexandria Quartet in Greek. The books on this page can also be found in Athens at Eleftherodakis Books on Panapistimiou and Compendium on Nikis street or through Greece In Print by using this form

Elias Kollias' The Knights of Rhodes: The Palace and the City is rich in history, beautiful photos and information about the Old City. He also wrote The Medieval City of Rhodes and the Palace of the Grandmaster which goes into more detail and is even more impressive. Both these books furthered my understanding of the island and its magnificant history. Toubis, the company that published the colorful local guidebooks for just about every island has Rhodes: The Island In the Sun which is a general overview of the island but also contains enough great pictures that you can leave your camera behind if you like. It is also very helpful for deciding what you want to see around Rhodes and contains some good info on society, culture, history, architecture and more. But my favorite book has to be Rhodes a Story:1306-1522 by Vangelis Pavlidis which is a history of the Knights of Saint John and their defense of the island against the Turks written and illustrated in a sort of comicbook form, (similar to the For Beginners series which is popular in the USA.) Well written and beautifully illustrated it is the easiest way to get your dose of history and can be read and enjoyed by all different ages. It was my favorite book of the summer.

Rhodes in Modern Times: Don't let the title fool you. This book was written by the highly qualified scholar Cecil Torr in 1887 and is the first major account of Byzantine and Medieval Rhodes. The book provides one of the best histories of the Knights of Saint John, and the extraordinary events of the great seige which led to their expulsion in 1522 by the Turks. It is also a guidebook that will bring to life the Rhodes of the nineteenth century. Lawrence Durrell loved this book and most likely you will too. For more information you can contact the publishers at bar@archaeopress.com