Patrick Leigh Fermor

July 1, 2013
In her arresting biography of Patrick Leigh Fermor, an ever-curious travel writer known for experiencing locales at ground- level, Cooper (Writing at the Kitchen Table), studies a man determined to see the world firsthand, with interviews from family and friends, rare letters, and diaries. Fermor, who grew up at the turn of the 20th century in England, was known during his school years as a noisy troublemaker. Upon graduation in 1933, Fermor boarded a ship for mainland Europe, determined to spend a year walking through the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary to Rumania. Cooper provides the details of Paddy’s wanderlust and his travels to Constantinople the following year, talking to the locals, soaking up the regional folklore, but noting the cruel expansion of the Nazi doctrine through Europe. Paddy led a daring WWII mission to snare a notorious German general on Crete, where he later lived, writing exceptional travel books over four decades. Nostalgic and expertly written, Cooper fleshes out Fermor, a man who boldly traveled a world on the edge of catastrophe, which he explained in his writing to a faithful readership.

August 15, 2013
A fondly admiring account of the English wayfarer captures his enormously infectious spirit. An author of nonfiction travelogues not well-known on this side of the Atlantic, Patrick Leigh Fermor (1915-2011) made his swashbuckling reputation during World War II when he and his fellow British Special Operations Executive agent W. Stanley Moss and Cretan resistance fighters abducted the Nazi general of the occupation of Crete. Subsequently, Leigh Fermor was hailed as a Greek hero and was even graced by a 1957 Hollywood film version of the escapade, Ill Met by Moonlight, based on Moss' memoir of the same name. British author Cooper (Writing at the Kitchen Table: The Authorized Biography of Elizabeth David, 2000, etc.) was well-acquainted with the personable, loquacious Leigh Fermor and has edited his Words of Mercury, deriving much of this material from his own extensive memoirs as well as from interviews. What emerges here is the energetic, devouring spirit of the intrepid traveler, who never had the money to be a true bon vivant but who managed to find plenty of well-connected ladies to pay his bills. Channeling a restive youth between ill-suited parents who lived, separately, in India and London, "Paddy" resolved to postpone entry into the army in order to make a yearlong trek by foot through Europe starting in December 1933. It would prove his education, coming-of-age and entree into life as he forged many of the acquaintances that would direct his future, such as that of Princess Balasha Cantacuzene, a mysterious older painter of Greek-Rumanian extraction who took young Paddy in during the next several years. The war scattered many friends, yet his notoriety prompted continual interest in his travels. A solid biography that should introduce more readers to Leigh Fermor's work.

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September 15, 2013
Patrick Leigh Fermor (19152011) was a legendary British travel writer, who, in the early 1930s, while still a teenager, walked from one end of Europe to the other. Later, his experiences were written up in the two books (out of the several he wrote) for which he is most remembered, A Time of Gifts (1977) and Between the Woods and the Water (1986), which together chronicled his step-by-step trek across mountains, rivers, and national borders, finding food and lodging where he could, the latter often in barns. His natural charm and good looks brought him into contact with people from all walks of life, from gypsies to aristocrats. Cooper's definitive biography follows in sparkling detail this life-defining sojourn and also the other major factors in a long and colorful life, including military service in WWII, during which he fought with the resistance forces on Crete. Fermor's exuberant personality often rubbed people the wrong way, and his baroque writing style, on exhibit in all his books, aroused controversy as well. But avid readers of travel literature should know this man, and here is the place to start.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)

June 15, 2013

Travel writer Patrick Leigh Fermor is legendary for his walk across Europe in the 1930s at age 18, but fewer people know about his involvement in the resistance to the German occupation of Crete. Cooper's biography comes well recommended, having been a best seller last year in Britain and short-listed for the Waterstone's Book of the Year and Costa Biography awards.

Copyright 2013 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 15, 2013

At the age of 18, Patrick Leigh Fermor, known as Paddy, began walking across Europe and never really settled down again. He evolved from a raconteur who made powerful friends in prewar Central Europe to a World War II soldier stationed primarily in Greece and then to a travel writer. Along the way, Fermor learned numerous languages, had many affairs, was a champion of the people of Greece and Crete, kidnapped a German general, and became a legend. While many of Fermor's stories are told in his books, including A Time of Gifts and Mani, this biography helps clarify and connect his sometimes romanticized and composite tales. Cooper (Cairo in the War, 1939-1945), who has written other author biographies, uses not only Fermor's published stories but also letters, interviews, and journals to write this authorized biography that shows the big picture without ever apologizing for her subject's faults. VERDICT This engaging work sheds light on the life of one of Britain's greatest travel writers, with particular detail on his time in Greece, his war escapades, and his struggles with writing. Recommended for lovers of armchair travel and those who enjoyed Sir Fermor's own writings. [See Prepub Alert, 5/20/13.]--Sheila Kasperek, Mansfield Univ. Lib., PA

Copyright 2013 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.