Buy new:
-20% $15.95
FREE delivery Sunday, May 12 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35
Ships from: Amazon.com
Sold by: Amazon.com
$15.95 with 20 percent savings
List Price: $19.95

The List Price is the suggested retail price of a new product as provided by a manufacturer, supplier, or seller. Except for books, Amazon will display a List Price if the product was purchased by customers on Amazon or offered by other retailers at or above the List Price in at least the past 90 days. List prices may not necessarily reflect the product's prevailing market price.
Learn more
Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns
FREE delivery Sunday, May 12 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35
Or fastest delivery Wednesday, May 8. Order within 12 hrs 56 mins
Only 9 left in stock (more on the way).
$$15.95 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$15.95
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Ships from
Amazon.com
Ships from
Amazon.com
Sold by
Amazon.com
Sold by
Amazon.com
Returns
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.
Read full return policy
Returns
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.
Read full return policy
Payment
Secure transaction
Your transaction is secure
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
Payment
Secure transaction
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
$11.86
Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns
FREE delivery Monday, May 13 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35
Or fastest delivery Wednesday, May 8. Order within 20 hrs 26 mins
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
$$15.95 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$15.95
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.
Amazon book clubs early access
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Amazon book clubs early access

Join or create book clubs

Choose books together

Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Explore Amazon Book Clubs
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the author

Patrick Leigh Fermor
Follow
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

Roumeli: Travels in Northern Greece (New York Review Books Classics) Paperback – June 6, 2006

by Patrick Leigh Fermor (Author), Patricia Storace (Introduction)
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 185 ratings
See all formats and editions
{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$15.95","priceAmount":15.95,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"15","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"95","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"FClu5%2F6FyIAiY%2BFvEgZKgYM7u%2BpKFY%2BHs%2BIvtnXEIbQjDOJwuXBeqxCGBzKfDjAxcpfbdFWQ6XkRQoPuWb6IpBeduJSWVD1eTcs%2FCBuDiS0%2BVjB4CLB4vkAd4i64R8cgGlDL0Iu4wKY%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}, {"displayPrice":"$11.86","priceAmount":11.86,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"11","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"86","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"FClu5%2F6FyIAiY%2BFvEgZKgYM7u%2BpKFY%2BHSoC5URDgj2ANe4iNMNMDGb%2BNQC9xRWhneWmu72DWqyIkygy2U6LpVPRhBnLrilqCKEVTQmvb6vPDRAJaoUuzPjFA2dapLmWJe0V3eJQxSMPh2meYH5TOahcuXeX9XzYxEBpZtI9Ubw%2FcNoEEFE4Mdw%3D%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":1}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

Get lost in northern Greece with one of the greatest travel writers of the 20th century as he travels to monasteries, among shepherds, and throughout the hills, mountains, and rugged coastline of this enchanted land. 

Roumeli is not to be found on present-day maps. It is the name once given to northern Greece—stretching from the Bosporus to the Adriatic and from Macedonia to the Gulf of Corinth, a name that evokes a world where the present is inseparably bound up with the past.

Roumeli describes Patrick Leigh Fermor’s wanderings in and around this mysterious and yet very real region. He takes us with him among Sarakatsan shepherds, to the monasteries of Meteora and the villages of Krakora, and on a mission to track down a pair of Byron’s slippers at Missolonghi. As he does, he brings to light the inherent conflicts of the Greek inheritance—the tenuous links to the classical and Byzantine heritage, the legacy of Ottoman domination—along with an underlying, even older world, traces of which Leigh Fermor finds in the hills and mountains and along stretches of barely explored coast.

Roumeli is a companion volume to Patrick Leigh Fermor’s famous Mani: Travels in the Southern Peloponnese.
Previous page
  1. Print length
    280 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    NYRB Classics
  4. Publication date
    June 6, 2006
  5. Dimensions
    4.95 x 0.54 x 8 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    159017187X
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1590171875
  8. See all details
Next page
The Amazon Book Review
The Amazon Book Review
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now

Frequently bought together

Roumeli: Travels in Northern Greece (New York Review Books Classics)
$15.95
Get it as soon as Sunday, May 12
Only 9 left in stock (more on the way).
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
+
Mani: Travels in the Southern Peloponnese (New York Review Books Classics)
$14.90
Get it as soon as Monday, May 13
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
Sold by KyncStore and ships from Amazon Fulfillment.
+
A Time of Gifts: On Foot to Constantinople: From the Hook of Holland to the Middle Danube (New York Review Books Classics)
$13.42
Get it as soon as Sunday, May 12
In Stock
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
Total price:
To see our price, add these items to your cart.
Details
Added to Cart
Some of these items ship sooner than the others.
Show details Hide details
Choose items to buy together.

From the Publisher

A Time of Gifts Between the Woods and the Water The Broken Road A Time to Keep Silence Mani: Travels in the Southern Peloponnese Roumeli: Travels in Northern Greece
A Time of Gifts Between the Woods and the Water The Broken Road A Time to Keep Silence Mani: Travels in the Southern Peloponnese Roumeli: Travels in Northern Greece
Customer Reviews
4.3 out of 5 stars
1,516
4.5 out of 5 stars
734
4.5 out of 5 stars
739
4.3 out of 5 stars
334
4.3 out of 5 stars
366
4.3 out of 5 stars
185
Price $13.42 $14.12 $14.73 $12.21 $14.90 $15.95
About this book In this work, Patrick Leigh Fermor recounts the first leg of a 1934 cross-continental walk. Patrick Leigh Fermor recounts the second leg of his 1934 trek to Constantinople. The third and final volume of Patrick Leigh Fermor's legendary trek across Europe. Patrick Leigh Fermor chronicles his several sojourns in some of Europe's oldest and most celebrated monasteries. Patrick Leigh Fermor on his journeys amongst the peoples of the southern-most parts of Greece. Patrick Leigh Fermor tells of his wanderings in and around Northern Greece.
The Traveller's Tree: A Journey through the Caribbean Islands The Violins of Saint-Jacques Patrick Leigh Fermor: A Life in Letters In Tearing Haste Abducting a General: The Kreipe Operation in Crete Patrick Leigh Fermor: An Adventure
The Traveller's Tree: A Journey through the Caribbean Islands The Violins of Saint-Jacques Patrick Leigh Fermor: A Life in Letters In Tearing Haste: Letters between Deborah Devonshire and Patrick Leigh Fermor Abducting a General: The Kreipe Operation in Crete Patrick Leigh Fermor: An Adventure
Customer Reviews
4.3 out of 5 stars
135
4.1 out of 5 stars
131
4.7 out of 5 stars
24
4.1 out of 5 stars
13
4.1 out of 5 stars
23
4.4 out of 5 stars
596
Price $16.69 $8.76 $16.40 $9.80 $24.96 $21.57
About this book Patrick Leigh Fermor on his travels around the Caribbean. Patrick Leigh Fermor's only novel, about disaster on a small, fictional island. Letters spanning almost seventy years of Patrick Leigh Fermor's life. The punchy correspondence between Patrick Leigh Fermor and Deborah Mitford, the Duchess of Devonshire. Patrick Leigh Fermor's account of kidnapping General Kreipe, the German commander in Crete, on April 26, 1944. Artemis Cooper's celebrated biography of the intrepid travel writer Patrick Leigh Fermor.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"…Mani and Roumeli remain extraordinarily engaging books. This is partly thanks to Leigh Fermor’s ability to turn an insight into a telling phrase…and partly thanks to his capacity to weave a compelling story out of sometimes unpromising material. One of the best tales of all is the hilarious digression in Roumeli on the attempted recovery of a pair of Byron’s slippers from a man in Missolonghi, on behalf of Byron’s very odd great-granddaughter Lady Wentworth…When you see through all the nonsense about Hellenic continuity, there is, underneath, a much more nuanced account of the ambivalences of modern Greece, its people and its myths (its own myths about itself and us, as much as our myths about it)." — Mary Beard, The London Review of Books

"Recommended to those who admire exotic people, unbookish intelligence and captivating style." — Gilbert Highet

"Here it all is once again: brilliance, the felicitous profusion, the exuberance of learning and information. . . .Roumeli is not a beginning and middle and end book, but a series of pictures loosely related, mainly placed in Roumeli, in the north of Greece. Its unity, however, is not geographic so much as psychological. It deals with secluded ways and people—communities but not minglers—people who either by the necessities of their crafts or the strength of their traditions have kept to their own stream, side by side but not deeply affected by the changes around them….Placed as we are at probably the most sudden turn in history, any writing that deals with what has so short a time of survival ahead adds, as it were, a museum interest to its own intrinsic qualities. These pictures of Greece are things that a coming generation will look for in vain among the realities of their day." — Freya Stark, The New York Times

“Patrick Leigh Fermor has written great travel books besides Roumeli and Mani, but I like to think that his extraordinary style is especially well suited to the subject of Greece, that the beautiful cragginess and almost blinding brilliance of his prose correspond particularly to that country’s rugged, dazzled landscapes. Here Fermor establishes an ideal of travel writing: no one responds to a people and a place with more erudition and sensitivity.” —Benjamin Kunkel

“[Leigh Fermor] becomes fascinated by the last true nomads of the region, the Sarakatsáns.  His description of their wanderings is, for me, the best sort of literary geography lesson, and has even more geopolitical relevance now than when he wrote it.” - Robin Hanbury-Tenison, Geographical


Praise for Patrick Leigh Fermor:
"One of the greatest travel writers of all time”–The Sunday Times

“A unique mixture of hero, historian, traveler and writer; the last and the greatest of a generation whose like we won't see again.”–Geographical

“The finest traveling companion we could ever have . . . His head is stocked with enough cultural lore and poetic fancy to make every league an adventure.” –Evening Standard

If all Europe were laid waste tomorrow, one might do worse than attempt to recreate it, or at least to preserve some sense of historical splendor and variety, by immersing oneself in the travel books of Patrick Leigh Fermor.”—Ben Downing, The Paris Review

About the Author

Patrick Leigh Fermor (1915-2011) was an intrepid traveler, a heroic soldier, and a writer with a unique prose style. After his stormy schooldays, followed by the walk across Europe to Constantinople that begins in A Time of Gifts (1977) and continues through Between the Woods and the Water (1986), he lived and traveled in the Balkans and the Greek Archipelago. His books Mani (1958) and Roumeli (1966) attest to his deep interest in languages and remote places. In the Second World War he joined the Irish Guards, became a liaison officer in Albania, and fought in Greece and Crete. He was awarded the DSO and OBE. He lived partly in Greece—in the house he designed with his wife, Joan, in an olive grove in the Mani—and partly in Worcestershire. He was knighted in 2004 for his services to literature and to British–Greek relations.

Patricia Storace is the author of Heredity, a book of poems, Dinner with Persephone, a travel memoir about Greece, Sugar Cane, a children’s book, and The Book of Heaven, a novel. She lives in New York.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ NYRB Classics; New York Review Books Classics edition (June 6, 2006)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 280 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 159017187X
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1590171875
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 4.95 x 0.54 x 8 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 185 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Patrick Leigh Fermor

Patrick Leigh Fermor

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
185 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

zorba
5.0 out of 5 stars Another Fermor Classic
Reviewed in the United States on November 21, 2006
Verified Purchase
I first encountered Fermor in his riveting accounts of his walk across Europe as World War II began descending. I was fascinated by his encyclopedic and poetic narrative. He made you feel you were walking alongside him. Now, his travels take us to Roumeli, the old name for northern Greece and Macedonia. Again, Fermor takes us on a poetic and detailed odyssey through villages and rugged Greek countryside, meeting interesting people and telling their tales. He has an uncanny ear (and eye) for the temperament and culture of the Greeks and one can sense his affection for the people he helped defend while a British commando on Crete during WWII. This is a travelogue of the old sort: careful attention to detail, wanderings off the well-trod tourist paths, and vivid description of the sounds, smells and history of this fabled land.
37 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Ingrid
4.0 out of 5 stars I love Patrick Leigh Fermor, but...
Reviewed in the United States on March 27, 2014
Verified Purchase
This was not my favorite book. I read Mani right before my trip to the Peloponnese and was enchanted. I'm about to take a trip to northern Greece and was looking forward to being similarly delighted. There are some wonderful passages. I particularly liked his writings about Meteora, but overall, and particularly when compared to his Mani book, I was disappointed.
2 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Alexandra
5.0 out of 5 stars Roumeli; Tavels in Northern Greece
Reviewed in the United States on November 29, 2013
Verified Purchase
Extraordinary..That is all I can say about it. It is so much more than a "travel journal". So much more than a description of
landscapes and views. It is an incredibly researched history lesson, collected from people who have lived for generations in some remote areas of Greece and who have been faithfully passing on their heritage to their children, by word of mouth and traditions fiercely kept and protected. Can't wait to read all of Patrick Leigh Fermor's books, as well as his biography.
Fascinating man.
3 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Alma Jeanne Carman
5.0 out of 5 stars a trip to a world unknown to many but well worth the time to know.
Reviewed in the United States on May 23, 2015
Verified Purchase
Like all of Fremor's books, it is written in a style that can prove beyond the ken of readers younger than a certain age, but it is too their misfortune that they do not expand their vocabulary to make these volumes available. This book speaks to a time when the world was truly civilized.
2 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
JAK
3.0 out of 5 stars Fermor on Greece
Reviewed in the United States on June 1, 2012
I'd previously read A TIME OF GIFTS and BETWEEN THE WOODS AND THE WATER and I'll admit , I found them the more interesting books.Partly that's because I'm more interested in Eastern and Central Europe than Greece.But they also strike me as tighter, more controlled books.Parts of ROUMELI are fascinating.Yet , the fascinating parts do tend to alternate with extended ,dullish ,passages.Fermor had a great eye and does a brilliant job of evoking a rural Greece that must have been disappearing even as he was observing it, in , I think the 1950's.Of particular interest are his descriptions of the Sarakastans, a group who if they still exist in any sense ,must be utterly transformed , and the Vlachs.Also I found the apparent persistence of the cult of Lord Byron in Greece surprising, funny and endearing.I suspect the modern Greece that emerged is a much duller place. Yet, nostalgia seems inappropriate.You need only read Fermor's descriptions of Sarakastan life to realize two things : 1) Sarakastan life was beautiful and romantic 2) it must also have been --awful.
4 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
John M. Dillon
5.0 out of 5 stars Inspired ramblings
Reviewed in the United States on June 18, 2013
Verified Purchase
PLF here seeks out some of the oddest corners of Northern Greece for his explorations, adorning them with comments that are both witty and poetic -- the Sarakatsani, Missolonghi in search of Lord Byron's shoes, the Kravara and its private language -- and a fine disquisition on Romiosyne versus Hellenism.
Helpful
 Report
peter humphries
4.0 out of 5 stars Another excellent book from Paddy
Reviewed in the United States on May 11, 2014
Verified Purchase
His memory is amazing or he has a great imagination to fill in the gaps in his memory. You soon get overtaken by his writing style and enter the world of the Lavant as it as in the 1930's, 40's and 50's. He now starts to touch on the modern age or at least my age which helps to put things into context. Wonderful
Helpful
 Report
Piers Montague
5.0 out of 5 stars Great introduction to the culture
Reviewed in the United States on May 4, 2016
Verified Purchase
Great introduction to the culture, history, people, and places of northern Greece from one of the 20th century's masters of travel literature.
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English
Gabes
5.0 out of 5 stars Absorbing travel tale
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 28, 2023
Verified Purchase
Great book!
Report
Elaine Williams
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in Canada on January 7, 2018
Verified Purchase
Hasn't arrived yet, but everything by this author is great
Report
Eva Saibel
5.0 out of 5 stars Alles perfekt
Reviewed in Germany on June 25, 2017
Verified Purchase
Das Buch ist in sehr gutem Zustand und schnell gekommen. Ich bin froh, es gefunden zu haben. Bin gerade in einer der Gegenden, die dort beschrieben werden.
Report
A.Savo.
5.0 out of 5 stars Diario eccezionale di un grande scrittore di viaggi
Reviewed in Italy on October 16, 2014
Verified Purchase
Questo libro, per quanto a mia conoscenza non è ancora tradotto in italiano. E' uno dei grandi libri di Fermor un eccezionale scrittore di viaggi secondo a nessuno dei più celebrati. Grande prosa e grande fascino delle descrizioni, ti cala nel centro delle senzazioni e del cuore dei luoghi e delle genti che descrive. Bellisimi i ritratti del popolo nomade.
Report
Tonton Jacques
5.0 out of 5 stars Un grand plaisir
Reviewed in France on March 2, 2013
Verified Purchase
Lire un livre de Patrick Leigh Fermor est toujours un grand plaisir. Plusieurs ont été traduits en français, celui-ci pas encore apparemment, alors, eh bien, il faut le lire en anglais. Avec un dictionnaire à portée de la main de préférence, car il utilise une langue de bon niveau - même s'il n'est jamais obscur ni prétentieux. C'est vraiment la Grèce (d'il y a quelques dizaines d'années, quand même) comme si on y était, il raconte de façon absolument remarquable. Fermor était un érudit dans son genre, mais il a le bon goût de ne pas assommer le lecteur avec ses connaissances, mais de vous les faire partager quasi amicalement : un gentleman, en quelque sorte. On apprend quantité de choses, on est fasciné par les personnages rencontrés aussi bien que par le style, et conquis par l'humour à la fois grec et "british" qui se dégage de tout le livre (qui fait le pendant de "Mani", concernant le sud du Péloponnèse, alors que celui-ci concerne essentiellement le nord et le centre, avec des digressions sur la Crète). Si aucun éditeur n'en a encore eu la bonne idée, il serait urgent de traduire celui-ci en français également.
3 people found this helpful
 Report