Patrick Leigh Fermor: An Adventure
Patrick Leigh Fermor (1915–2011) was a legendary British travel writer, who, in the early 1930s, while still a teenager, walked from one end of Europe to the other. Later, his experiences were written up in the two books (out of the several he wrote) for which he is most remembered, A Time of Gifts (1977) and Between the Woods and the Water (1986), which together chronicled his step-by-step trek across mountains, rivers, and national borders, finding food and lodging where he could, the latter often in barns. His natural charm and good looks brought him into contact with people from all walks of life, from gypsies to aristocrats. Cooper’s definitive biography follows in sparkling detail this life-defining sojourn and also the other major factors in a long and colorful life, including military service in WWII, during which he fought with the resistance forces on Crete. Fermor’s exuberant personality often rubbed people the wrong way, and his baroque writing style, on exhibit in all his books, aroused controversy as well. But avid readers of travel literature should know this man, and here is the place to start. --Brad Hooper--This text refers to theHardcoveredition.