{"product_id":"9781399836852","title":"A Time of Gifts","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eWITH A FOREWORD BY JAN MORRIS\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'A treasure chest' \u003ci\u003eSpectator\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'A masterpiece' William Dalrymple, \u003ci\u003eFinancial Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn 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 \u003ci\u003eA Time of Gifts,\u003c\/i\u003e 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHailed as a masterpiece, \u003ci\u003eA Time of Gifts \u003c\/i\u003eis 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Rightly considered to be among the most beautiful travel books in the language' \u003ci\u003eIndependent\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Leigh, Fermor, Patrick","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":58242489876854,"sku":"9781399836852","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1208\/4146\/files\/9781399836852.jpg?v=1783608847","url":"https:\/\/chepstowbooks.co.uk\/products\/9781399836852","provider":"Chepstow Books \u0026 Gifts","version":"1.0","type":"link"}