Anthony Rhodes was born in Plymouth, England on September 24, 1916, to Colonel George E. and Dorothy Rhodes. He spent his early years at Lucknow and Delhi, India where his father was stationed. Rhodes attended Rugby School (1930-1935) and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst (1935-1937) before moving on to Trinity College, Cambridge in 1939, where he obtained a degree in Mechanical Sciences.

During World War II, Rhodes joined the Royal Engineers and was sent to France with the 3rd Division of the British Expeditionary Force under the command of General Bernard Montgomery. He chronicled his experiences from the war, including the retreat to Dunkirk in his first book, Sword of Bone (1943).

After his service in France, Rhodes was promoted to Captain and sent to Canada as a camouflage officer. There, he met his first wife, Lisel Ashkenazi. They married in 1944 and divorced in 1952. In 1945, he was discharged from the army and became a lecturer on English Literature at Geneva University where he earned a licence ès-lettres in 1952. He also spent much of his time traveling the continent; among his travels were France, Italy, and Yugoslavia. In 1956, when the Hungarian revolution broke out, Rhodes went to Budapest.

In 1952, Rhodes taught French, Italian, and German at Eton for two years. In 1953, he met Rosaleen (Rosie) Forbes. They married in 1956 and became well known for their literary parties.

Rhodes is best known for his three-volume history The Power of Rome in the Twentieth Century, which he spent five years researching at the Vatican. His work, The Vatican in the Age of Dictators 1922-1945 (1973), was the first major defense written in English of Pope Pius XII, earning Rhodes a papal knighthood from Pope Paul VI.

Rhodes translated the memoirs of King Hassan II of Morocco from French to English, establishing a close friendship and becoming the king's cultural adviser on English matters for seventeen years.

Rhodes converted to Roman Catholicism in 1992. He spent the last years of his life in a residential nursing home, cared for by the Daughters of the Cross. Rhodes died on August 23, 2004 in London, England at the age of 87.

Sources:

"Anthony Rhodes," The Times (London), September 2004.

"Anthony Rhodes," News.telegraph, September 2004.