Engelska

<p><b>A WATERSTONES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2024 </b><br/><br/><b>"A brilliant exploration of Cyprus's long history of cultural resilience. Superbly composed." -- Guardian</b><br/><br/><b>"Poetic...Compelling" -- New Statesman</b><br/><br/><b>One of <i>National Geographic</i>'s Summer Reads 2024<br/></b><br/>Think of a place where you can stand at the intersection of Christian and Arab cultures, at the crossroads of the British, Ottoman, Byzantine, Roman and Egyptian empires; a place marked by the struggle between fascism and communism and where the capital city is divided in half as a result of bloody conflict; where the ancient olive trees of Homer's time exist alongside the undersea cables which link up the world's internet.<br/><br/>In <i>Cypria</i>, named after a lost Cypriot epic which was the prequel to <i>The Odyssey</i>, British Cypriot writer Alex Christofi writes a deeply personal, lyrical history of the island of Cyprus, from the era of goddesses and mythical beasts to the present day.<br/><br/>This sprawling, evocative and poetic book begins with the legend of the cyclops and the storytelling at the heart of the Mediterranean culture. Christofi travels to salt lakes, crusader castles, mosques and the eerie town deserted at the start of the 1974 war. He retells the particularly bloody history of Cyprus during the twentieth century and considers his own identity as traveler and returner, as Odysseus was.<br/><br/>Written in sensitive, witty and beautifully rendered prose, with a novelist's flair and eye for detail, <i>Cypria</i> combines the political, cultural and geographical history of Cyprus with reflections on time, place and belonging.</p>

Close your eyes and imagine Sweden. What do you see? Miles of green pine forests and deep blue lakes or a snowy white wilderness, interrupted only by the dark contours of rocks and reindeer? Perhaps you see an ultra-modern society, all steel girders and eco-materials? Sweden is all of those things and more Like a painting inspired by the palette of an artist s favourite location, this book will immerse you in the colours of Sweden, from its deepest blues to its richest reds. Join me on a visual exploration of all this country has to offer, and perhaps also sample a flavour or two along the way!

<p><b>Follow Colm Toibin's lone religious pilgrimage along the Irish border during the tumultuous summer of 1987.</b><br/><br/>In the summer after the Anglo-Irish Agreement, when tension was high in Northern Ireland, Colm Toibin walked along the border from Derry to Newry. <i>Bad Blood</i> is a stark and evocative account of this journey through fear and hatred, and a report on ordinary life and the legacy of history in a bleak and desolate landscape.<br/><br/>Toibin describes the rituals - the marches, the funerals, the demonstrations - observed by both communities along the border, and listens to the stories which haunt both sides. With sympathy and insight <i>Bad Blood</i> captures the intimacy of life along one of the most contested strips of land in Western Europe.<br/><br/><b>Now part of the Picador Collection, a series showcasing the very best of modern literature.</b></p>