A Time of Gifts: On Foot to Constantinople: From the Hook of Holland to the Middle Danube-Fast Shipping

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This beloved account about an intrepid young Englishman on the first leg of his walk from London to Constantinople is simply one of the best works of travel literature ever written.

At the age of eighteen, Patrick Leigh Fermorset off from the heart of London on an epic journey—to walk to Constantinople.A Time of Gifts is the rich account of his adventures as far as Hungary,after which Between the Woods and the Water continues the story to the Iron Gates that divide the Carpathian andBalkan mountains. Acclaimed for its sweep andintelligence, LeighFermor’s book explores a remarkable moment in time. Hitlerhas justcome to power but war is still ahead, as he walks through a Europe soonto be forever changed—through the Lowlands to Mitteleuropa, to TeutonicandSlav heartlands, through the baroque remains of the Holy RomanEmpire; up the Rhine,and down to the Danube.

At once a memoir of coming-of-age,an account of a journey, and a dazzling exposition of the English language, ATime of Gifts is also a portrait of a continent already showing ominous signsof the holocaust to come.