WITH A FOREWORD BY JAN MORRIS
'A treasure chest' Spectator
'A masterpiece' William Dalrymple, Financial Times
In 1933, aged eighteen, Patrick Leigh Fermor set out on his 'great trudge', a year-long journey by foot from the Hook of Holland to Istanbul. Three decades later he wrote A Time of Gifts, the sparklingly original account of the first part of this youthful adventure. Alone, carrying only a rucksack and a small allowance, he travelled through the Low Countries, up the Rhine, through Germany, down the Danube, through Austria and Czechoslovakia, and as far as Hungary.
Hailed as a masterpiece, A Time of Gifts is in part a coming-of-age memoir, but also a rich and compelling portrait of a continent that - despite its resplendent domes and monasteries, great rivers and grand cities - was soon to be swept away by war, modernisation and profound social change.
'Rightly considered to be among the most beautiful travel books in the language' Independent
| ISBN: | 9781399836852 |
| Publication date: | 16th July 2026 |
| Author: | Patrick Leigh Fermor |
| Publisher: | John Murray an imprint of John Murray Press |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Pagination: | 384 pages |
| Genres: |
Autobiography: general Travel |
WITH A FOREWORD BY JAN MORRIS
'A treasure chest' Spectator
'A masterpiece' William Dalrymple, Financial Times
In 1933, aged eighteen, Patrick Leigh Fermor set out on his 'great trudge', a year-long journey by foot from the Hook of Holland to Istanbul. Three decades later he wrote A Time of Gifts, the sparklingly original account of the first part of this youthful adventure. Alone, carrying only a rucksack and a small allowance, he travelled through the Low Countries, up the Rhine, through Germany, down the Danube, through Austria and Czechoslovakia, and as far as Hungary.
Hailed as a masterpiece, A Time of Gifts is in part a coming-of-age memoir, but also a rich and compelling portrait of a continent that - despite its resplendent domes and monasteries, great rivers and grand cities - was soon to be swept away by war, modernisation and profound social change.
'Rightly considered to be among the most beautiful travel books in the language' Independent
A Time of Gifts features in the following genres: Autobiography: general, Travel
A Time of Gifts is available in Paperback, Hardback
A Time of Gifts was written by Patrick Leigh Fermor and published by John Murray an imprint of John Murray Press
A Time of Gifts has 384 pages
£11.69