Complex sentence: Originally published anonymously, it was his first book and semi-autobiographical, based on a diary Loti kept about 3 months as a French Navel officer in Greece and Constantinople in the fall and winter of 1876.
Split into simpler sentences: Originally published anonymously, it was his first book. It is semi-autobiographical, based on a diary Loti kept during a 3 month period as a French Navel officer in Greece and Constantinople in the fall and winter of 1876.