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GUIDES & BOOKS
"The Cretan Runner", an account of the WWII German occupation of Crete by George Psychoundakis, a Cretan shepherd turned 'runner' who carried messages between British SOE groups and Cretan partisans, taking appalling risks in the process. A unique view of the war from a Cretan perspective.
Rory MacLean's "Falling for Icarus" is the autobiographical story of a man troubled by the death of his mother. He comes to Crete to fulfil an ambition to build and fly his own aeroplane. In telling the tale MacLean provides many insights into the myths and history of Crete mixed with affectionate portraits of the villagers who helped him. A great pot pourri of heartache, humour and sadness.
"Vasili: The Lion of Crete" is the story of New Zealander Dudley Perkins and his heroic exploits alongside Cretan resistance fighters and other allies in occupied Crete during WWII. Kapetan Vasili, as he was later dubbed by the Cretans, had been captured by the Germans, escaped within two weeks an spent a year on the run before escaping to Egypt. A debt of gratitude to the people who had aided him caused Perkins to join the British SOE and return to Crete as an agent. Stirring stuff.
Louis de Berniers' factually based novel "Birds Without Wings" set at the time of the Peninsular war (Gallipoli) and the great population exchange between the collapsing Ottoman Empire and Greece. Many of the Christian refugees settled in Crete and their influence can still be seen in modern Cretan culture. (de Berniers also wrote Captain Corelli's Mandolin.)
"Twice a Stranger" is the historical background to the enforced Greek/Turkish population exchange that inspired Louis de Berniers' "Birds Without Wings".
Nikos Kazantzakis's classic tale "Zorba the Greek" recreates the Cretan zest for, and celebration of, life.
"Freedom and Death", another classic novel by Kazantzakis, is a very different story set in the Crete in the late-19th-century. A Cretan resistance fighter leads a new uprising against the occupiers and is faced by his blood brother, the Turkish bey.
"Still Life in Crete" is no mundane travel book but rather an evocation of modern Crete, its people and their idiosyncratic ways. The author, Anthony Cox, retired early and explored Greece with his wife before settling in western Crete. Cox describes many bizarre and humorous encounters interspersed with much information that will help visitors to enjoy their stay in Crete.
"Eleni" has no connection with Crete but provides an enthralling background to Greece during WW II and the civil war that followed. Author Nicholas Gage's mother was executed by Greek Communist partisans during the civil war for the "crime" of arranging her family's escape from transportation to communist countries. Gage, aged two when the Germans arrived in his village in northern Greece, was later reunited with his father in the USA. As an adult he returns to Greece to discover the facts of his mother's life and death and identity those responsible for her torture and execution.
"The Creature of Crete" is a children's book that adults will also enjoy. The author, John Harris (a full-time, professional Storyteller), re-creates the myths of the Minotaur, Daedalus and Icarus, and others. Though using modern language with a humorous style he remains faithful to the original tales - tales of bravery, cowardice and craftiness that are at times frightening but always exciting and entertaining.
"Report to Greco", Kazantzakis's autobiographical novel (one of the last things he wrote) is a brilliant picture of his childhood in Crete that then grows into a spiritual quest that takes him to Jerusalem and across Europe.
- Guide books
- Maps for walking and motoring
- Background to Crete and its people
- Modern history, including the great population exchange and WW II
- Language courses from a few useful phrases for holidaymakers to a fairly advanced level.
- A variety of novels (some set in mainland Greece but interesting background and insights into Greek life and culture.
- Flora and fauna
- Archaeology
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