A Time of Gifts: On Foot to Constantinople: from the Hook of Holland to the Middle Danube [B0132]

1988 (?) Penguin PB reprint. This memoir was originally written and published in 1977 by a renowned British travel writer in his early 60s, based on diaries he kept at the age of eighteen during his twelve-hundred-mile walking trip from Holland to Hungary in 1934. The chronicle provides insight into a Europe hovering on the brink of the Second World War.

From recent Amazon/GoodReads reviews: "The author's sense of wonder and adventure is really inspiring and I think the main draw and lasting appeal of the book. His extremely dense vocabulary, imagery, and knowledge of history were impressive and enjoyable when I could follow it all but often got too tangled and obscure for me to keep up with-ultimately, a feature of the book but also a barrier to my fully appreciating it."; "When you read Fermor keep a dictionary at your side. The adjectives flow like a strong river. Clothing and hat descriptions abound from 90 years ago. Europe and the world have gone through several re-structurizaations since this journal became a book. The map at the beginning and the infrequent dates help mark progress."; "A book written by an upper class Englishman for upper class Englishmen. Full of allusions and quotes that only someone with the same background would know and so in a way the most elitist book I have read. And I loved every bit of it! The story, the narration, the descriptions, the snapshot of 1933 Europe, loved all of it!"