In 1933 at the age of 18 Patrick Leigh Fermor set out on an extraordinary journey by foot
- from the Hook of Holland to Constantinople A Time of Gifts is the first volume in a trilogy recounting the trip & takes the reader with him as far as Hungary It is a book of compelling glimpses
- not only of the events which were curdling Europe at that time but also of its resplendent domes & monasteries its great rivers the sun on the Bavarian snow the storks & frogs the hospitable burgomasters who welcomed him & that world's grandeurs & courtesies His powers of recollection have astonishing sweep & verve & the scope is majestic