At the age of eighteen, Patrick Leigh Fermor set off from the heart of London on an epic journey—to walk to Constantinople. A Time of Gifts is the rich account of his adventures as far as Hungary, after which Between the Woods and the Water continues the story to the Iron Gates that divide the Carpathian and Balkan mountains. Acclaimed for its sweep and intelligence, Leigh Fermor's book explores a remarkable moment in time. Hitler has just come to power but war is still ahead, as he walks through a Europe soon to be forever changed—through the Lowlands to Mitteleuropa, to Teutonic and Slav heartlands, through the baroque remains of the Holy Roman Empire; up the Rhine, and down to the Danube.
At once a memoir of coming-of-age, an account of a journey, and a dazzling exposition of the English language, A Time of Gifts is also a portrait of a continent already showing ominous signs of the holocaust to come.
帕特里克•莱斯•弗莫尔（Patrick Leigh Fermor，1915—2011），爱尔兰裔，出生于一个英格兰上流社会家庭，他的父亲是知名的地质学家。弗莫尔是一位勇敢的旅行者，也被誉为是二十世纪英国最优秀的旅行作家之一。弗莫尔在结束自己的学校生涯后，于18岁那年只身出走，逃离了他所处的上流社会以及循规蹈矩的生活。他徒步穿越了欧洲，在欧洲各地游历和生活。在第二次世界大战期间，他应征入伍加入了爱尔兰卫队，在阿尔巴尼亚战斗；他还参与了英国特别行动处（SOE）突袭德占克里特岛的行动，俘虏了德军驻克里特岛的指挥官海因里希•克莱佩将军。他因此被授予了“优质服务勋章”（DSO）和大英帝国官佐勋章（OBE）。战后，他与他未来的妻子琼•蒙赛尔周游巴尔干和希腊，并定居希腊开始写作。2011年，弗莫尔与世长辞。