A Time to Keep Silence

Patrick Leigh Fermor, 1915 geboren, unternahm 1933 als achtzehnjähriger eine legendäre Reise zu Fuss von Rotterdam nach Constantinopel. Im Zweiten Weltkrieg kämpfte er als Verbindungsoffizier in Griechenland und auf Kreta gegen die deutsche Besatzung. Er reiste in die Karibik, wo sein erster und einziger Roman entstand. In der englischsprachigen Welt als Reiseschriftsteller hochgeachtet, lebt er heute in Griechenland, in einem Haus, das er selbst entworfen und gebaut hat.

The English language is still a superb instrument in the hands of a writer who has a virtuoso skill with words, a robust aesthetic passion, an indomitable curiosity and a rapturous historical imagination Observer The genius of Patrick Leigh Fermor is a many splendoured thing. Soldier, traveller, writer, Phihellene ... he has already dazzled and delighted ... It is some time since more truth and beauty were distilled into a hundred pages Stewart Perowne A brilliant book Sunday Times Delightful ... His book is not only an admirable piece of travel writing; it is also a brilliant piece of human exploration New Statesman Introspection, history, reportage have their balanced places in a well-written book ... measured and lucent Sunday Times Patrick Leigh Fermor is a stylish, superb master of words, which he savours like the choicest vintage The Times What a delight it is to read a book so beautifully and sensitively written Observer A most successful attempt to portray the reactions of the man of the world (in the literal sense) when confronted with the monastic life Daily Telegraph Delightful, lucidly written work of introspection that evokes the hardship and the rewards of the solitary life, as well as its beauty The Glasgow Herald John Murray is doing the decent thing and reissuing all of Leigh Fermor's main books ... But what else would you expect from a publisher whose commitment to geography is such that for more than two centuries it has widened our understanding of the world? Geographical Magazine A pleasure and an instruction to read Irish Times Bringing the landscape alive as no other writer can, he uses his profound and eclectic understanding of cultures and peoples ... to paint vivid pictures - nobody has illuminated the geography of Europe better Geographical Magazine