Mani

This book is a gem for lovers of Greece and of superlative English prose.

For me the book is far and away the best evocation of a wild and remote part of Greece that I got to know and treasure when tramping through its olive fields in search of ancient inscriptions. Leigh Fermor was incapable of writing a dull sentence.

His imagination allied with what he observed himself in his wanderings combine to bring out all the strangeness of Mani’s history of brigands and vendettas, of villages bristling with defensive towers and of fishermen descended—perhaps—from Byzantine emperors.   

Greece has never held an ‘Our Favourite Foreigner’ contest, but if they did, I suspect Patrick Leigh Fermor would win hands down. While fighting with the Resistance in Crete during WWII, he led one of the most daring missions of the conflict—abducting the German Commander of Crete in broad daylight.  

First published in 1958, his travel book on the wild Mani region is so evocative, adventurous, wise, and affectionate it’s not surprising he decided to spend the rest of his life there in Kardamyli. His writing is a deep well of inspiration: it’s no wonder he has been called ‘the… show more.