Patrick Leigh Fermor was born in London in 1915.
At the ago of eighteen, he travelled to the Hook of Holland, from where he eventually made his way on foot all the way to Istanbul. A Time of Gifts covers the journey as far as Hungary. It is a hugely revered piece of work in the world of classic travel literature, both for the evocation of the world experienced and its literary style. Lee Fermor went on to play a key World War II intelligence role in Crete.
He died in 2011.
A Time of Gifts (1977)
“Dark fell while I was trudging along a never-ending path beside the Waal. It was lined with skeleton trees; the frozen ice-puddles creaked under my hobnails; and, beyond the branches, the Great Bear and a retinue of winter constellations blazed in a clear cold sky. At last the distant lights of Tiel, poised on the first hill I had seen in Holland, twinkled into being on the other bank. An opportune bridge carried me over and I reached the market-place soon after ten, somnambulant with fatigue after traversing a vast stretch of country. I can’t remember under what mountainous eiderdown or in what dank cell I slept the night.”
Published by John Murry Press
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