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The Cretan Runner: His Story of the German Occupation
 
 
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The Cretan Runner: His Story of the German Occupation [Paperback]

George Psychoundakis (Author), Patrick Leigh Fermor (Introduction, Translator)
4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Paperback: 352 pages
  • Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd; Open market ed of new ed edition (26 Mar 1998)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0140273220
  • ISBN-13: 978-0140273229
  • Product Dimensions: 17.4 x 11.2 x 2.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 70,240 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Product Description

Product Description

This title provides an enthralling account of the Resistance in Crete, from the German invasion to the liberation by one of its most active Cretan participants. The author was one of a group of Cretans who tried to keep morale high and also act as intermediaries between the different groups of British on the island despite enormous dangers to their lives (three of the other early starters were captured and shot, two of them after long imprisonment and appalling torture). George Psychoundakis, a young goatherd of the time, was one of these 'runners'.

About the Author

George Psychoundakis was born in November 1920 to a poor family in the village of Asi Gonia. He was educated for only two or three years in the village school before becoming a goatherd though he continued to read and write voraciously. This book was written in a little cave by the light of an oil-dip. He was awarded the B.E.M. in 1945. Patrick Leigh Fermor translated the book.

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
29 of 30 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
A very lively account of a forgotten theatre of the Second World War. Though forgotten it was no less brutal and the descriptions of the German reprisals on the local populace are harrowing. Psychoundakis is not an educated man but his writing is a joy to read. As you read the book you get the impression of sitting around the camp fire listening to one or other of your comrades regaling the group with stories of derring-do and high adventure. It is easy to forget that it was, literally, a matter of life or death and the chance of capture high. I think what impressed me the most was the lack of hatred, no yearning for revenge on the Germans. At the end of the war when the German garrison had surrendered they were luckly to have been spared their lives after the appalling and savage way they oppressed the Island. Had they been anywhere else but in the hands of the Cretans, a noble and proud race, I don't think many Germans would have left the island alive. This book is excellent, I strongly recommend it.
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22 of 23 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
It is rare to read accounts of the guerilla war in Europe written by the local participants, rather than the Allied officers sent in to direct them and that makes this book all the more valuable. It is unaffected, honest and an extraordinary account of an extraordinary war. How the Cretan people kept going in the face of such hideous brutality is a testament to the human spirit. The bravery of the individual players left me incredulous.

Buy this book -- you won't regret it.

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48 of 54 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
I bought this book to read whilst on holiday in Crete last week. It was my 4th visit to the island, and I had already worked my way through 5 of the other 6 books I'd taken with me. I'm a novels sort of girl, but I have a fascination with the Cretan countryside, people, and way of life.

I was somewhat nervous of embarking on a dusty historical narrative (and I'm afraid I didn't really gain much from Mr Leigh Fermor's introduction), but the rest of the narrative was incredible. To have someone explain first-hand the amazing pain, suffering and yet dignity suffered by the Cretans during WWII was heart-rending. I felt like shaking my next door neighbours in our hotel (95% german tourists) and demanding that they account for the attrocities inflicted by their parents and grandparents.

Because of George's simple view of life (which is NOT to say that he is simple: far from it), the narrative is refreshingly accessible. Candid in the extreme, and a real eye-opener.

Go to Crete. Buy the book. Read the book. Don't EVER forget.

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