The 18-year-old Fermor began by sleeping in barns but, after meeting some landowners early on, got occasional introductions to castles. This is a glorious feast, the account of a walk in 1934 from the Hook of Holland to what was then Constantinople. by Patrick Leigh Fermor, introduction by Jan Morris Hitler has just come to power but war is still ahead, as he walks through a Europe soon to be forever changed-through the Lowlands to Mitteleuropa, to Teutonic and Slav heartlands, through the baroque remains of the Holy Roman Empire up the Rhine, and down to the Danube.Īt once a memoir of coming-of-age, an account of a journey, and a dazzling exposition of the English language, A Time of Gifts is also a portrait of a continent already showing ominous signs of the holocaust to come.ĭownload the Reading Group Guide for A Time of Gifts. Acclaimed for its sweep and intelligence, Leigh Fermor's book explores a remarkable moment in time. 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 and Balkan mountains. At the age of eighteen, Patrick Leigh Fermor set off from the heart of London on an epic journey-to walk to Constantinople.
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