‘A magician … Durrell enchants.’ - The Times

‘A lovely book … Makes people feel happy … [So] pleasurable.’ - Observer

World War II is finally over, and after four torturous years serving the Crown in Egypt, Lawerence Durrell seeks peace in the landscapes he has loved ever since his youth in Corfu: Mediterranean islands.

He is posted to the Greek island of Rhodes, and from his first dip in the dazzling blue Aegean - which jolts his soul awake for the first time in years - he immerses himself in the rhythms and moods of local life, befriending eccentric villagers and quaffing ouzo as through the war was a distant dream.

With his dazzling poet’s eye and passion for excavating ancient history, Durrell recaptures the mythic Rhodes of legend, of knights and crusades, that lies beneath its war-ravaged surface. It is a place that you will never forget.

‘Like long letters from a civilized and very funny friend - the prose as luminous as the Mediterranean air he loves.’ - Time