2013*1st* The Broken Road From The Iron Gates To Mount Athos - Patrick Leigh-Fermor (Edited by Colin Thubron & Artemis Cooper) John Murray

2013*1st* The Broken Road From The Iron Gates To Mount Athos - Patrick Leigh-Fermor (Edited by Colin Thubron & Artemis Cooper) John Murray

The Broken Road: From the Iron Gates to Mount Athos by Patrick Leigh Fermor was published posthumously in 2013 by John Murray. It is the long-awaited third volume of his celebrated travel trilogy, following A Time of Gifts and Between the Woods and the Water. Because Leigh Fermor died before completing it, the manuscript was sympathetically edited by Artemis Cooper and Colin Thubron using his original diaries and an earlier draft. 

Description

In 1933, at just 18 years old, Patrick Leigh Fermor set off to walk from the Hook of Holland to Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul). The Broken Road picks up where the second volume ended, following his journey through Romania and Bulgaria, before reaching Greece and Mount Athos.

The book is much more than a travel diary. Fermor vividly describes:

• The landscapes, villages and cities of pre-war Eastern Europe.
• Encounters with peasants, aristocrats, monks, shepherds and fellow travellers.
• The rich history, architecture and folklore of the Balkans.
• His own reflections on youth, adventure, friendship and the passing of time.

Although unfinished, many readers feel it provides a moving and fitting conclusion to one of the greatest travel narratives ever written. 

Why it is highly regarded

• Beautiful, poetic prose.
• A unique portrait of Eastern Europe just before the Second World War transformed it forever.
• A blend of travel writing, memoir, history and cultural observation.
• An important conclusion to one of the finest travel trilogies in English literature.