Bury Me Standing: The Gypsies and their Journey [Paperback]

'A remarkable achievement. A gripping, original work' Edward W. Said

Gypsies have always intrigued and fascinated - partly because of their mysterious origins, and partly because of the romance of nomadism. But because they resist assimilation, having survived as a distinct people for over a thousand years, they have also been the victims of other people's nationalism and xenophobia. In this fascinating and timely study, Fonseca focuses particularly on the gypsies in Eastern Europe (an estimated 6 million), and their future as a distinct race within a nationalist Europe. While researching the book, Fonseca learned Romany and stayed with the gypsies, becoming deeply involved with their lives, and befriending several gypsy kings. The result is a clolourful and frank book, filled with enthusiasm and curiosity, without lapsing into piety or romanticism.

'A grand panorama of European gypsydom, its history, its present condition and future prospects' Jan Morris, Sunday Times

'Isabel Fonseca's book is a passionate and dramatic defense of the defenceless... This beautifully written story speaks in a way of all who do not want to submit to the reverses of fortune, who seek their own place on earth' Ryszard Kapuscinski

Fabled, feared, romanticised and reviled, the Gypsies - or Roma - are among the least understood people on earth. Now a diaspora of twelve million, their culture remains largely obscure. But in Isabel Fonseca they have found an eloquent witness.

In Bury Me Standing, alongside unforgettable portraits of individuals - the poet, the politician, the child prostitute - Fonseca offers sharp insights in to the humour, language, wisdom and taboos of the Roma. She traces their exodus out of India 1,000 years ago and their astonishing history of persecution: enslaved by the princes of medieval Romania; massacred by the Nazis; forcible assimilated by the communist regimes; and evicted from their settlements by nationalist mobs in Eastern Europe and, most recently, in Western Europe as well. Whether as handy scapegoats or figments of the romantic imagination, the Gypsies have always been with us - but never before have they been brought so vividly to life.

'A remarkable achievement. A gripping, original work' Edward W. Said

Featuring a new afterword by the author

Isabel Fonseca was born in New York and educated at Columbia University and Oxford. She was an assistant editor at the Times Literary Supplement and has written for a wide range of publications, from the Wall Street Journal to Vogue. Her first book, Bury Me Standing: The Gypsies and Their Journey, was an international bestseller. She lives in London with her husband and their two daughters.