Shusaku Endo is considered one of Japan's greatest modern writers. His novel Silence is acknowledged as a masterpiece and has been translated into many languages. The Final Martyrs, published in English just before his death in 1996, reinforced his reputation as a major literary figure. Endo was born in 1923 and converted to Christianity as a boy. His stories and novels attempt to integrate his religious faith with Japanese culture.Endorsements"This is the whole life of Jesus. It stands out clean and simple, like a single Chinese ideograph brushed on a blank sheet of paper. It was so clean and simple that no one could ever make sense of it, and no one could produce its like."—Shusaku Endo"Endo's graceful life of Christ ranks with that of François Mauriac as one of the great volumes of its kind written in this century."—Harry James Cargas"He knows the land. His descriptions of the Judean countryside and the little towns that dot it, and of the incredibly bleak and empty desert, are among the most real and poetic I have ever read."—The Catholic Review"Endo is a consummate writer who, as a master photographer, brings intense sentiment, character, and movement out of the subtle light and shadows that he focuses around his subject..."—Choice"...characterized by simple language, but reveals a profound perceptivity. The translation by Richard Schuchert deserves a special commendation."—Roanoke Time & World-News†