or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
 
More Buying Choices
37 used & new from £1.39
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
Words of Mercury
 
See larger image 
Share your own customer images
Publisher: learn how customers can search inside this book.

Words of Mercury (Paperback)

by Patrick Leigh Fermor (Author), Artemis Cooper (Editor)
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
RRP: £7.99
Price: £5.99 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
You Save: £2.00 (25%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In stock.
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk. Gift-wrap available.

Want guaranteed delivery by Tuesday, November 17? Choose Express delivery at checkout. See Details
22 new from £2.22 15 used from £1.39
Other Editions: RRP: Our Price: Other Offers:
Hardcover (Illustrated) 17 used & new from £2.82

Frequently Bought Together

Words of Mercury + Between the Woods and the Water: On Foot to Constantinople from the Hook of Holland - The Middle Danube to the Iron Gates + Mani: Travels in the Southern Peloponnese
Price For All Three: £17.95

Show availability and delivery details

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Mani: Travels in the Southern Peloponnese

Mani: Travels in the Southern Peloponnese

by Patrick Leigh Fermor
4.0 out of 5 stars (6)  £5.97
Between the Woods and the Water: On Foot to Constantinople from the Hook of Holland - The Middle Danube to the Iron Gates

Between the Woods and the Water: On Foot to Constantinople from the Hook of Holland - The Middle Danube to the Iron Gates

by Patrick Leigh Fermor
5.0 out of 5 stars (5)  £5.99
Roumeli: Travels in Northern Greece

Roumeli: Travels in Northern Greece

by Patrick Leigh Fermor
£5.98
A Time of Gifts: On Foot to Constantinople - From the Hook of Holland to the Middle Danube

A Time of Gifts: On Foot to Constantinople - From the Hook of Holland to the Middle Danube

by Patrick Leigh Fermor
4.5 out of 5 stars (12)  £5.98
A Time to Keep Silence

A Time to Keep Silence

by Patrick Leigh Fermor
4.0 out of 5 stars (1)  £5.69
› Explore similar items

Product details

  • Paperback: 288 pages
  • Publisher: John Murray; New edition edition (19 Jul 2004)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 071956106X
  • ISBN-13: 978-0719561061
  • Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 13 x 2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 69,797 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Customers Viewing This Page May Be Interested in These Sponsored Links

  (What is this?)
   goofy Car Dealer video opens new browser window
www.youtube.com/watch  -  Nemith Rockin the house Nissan Volvo Lincoln Mercury 
   Mercury opens new browser window
Alibaba.com  -  Contact Suppliers & Manufacturers, Easy Sourcing on B2B Marketplace! 
   Words opens new browser window
www.Ask.com  -  Find the Best Results for Words. Ask us! 
  
 

Product Description

Sunday Telegraph

'Patrick Leigh Fermor is an exquisite among travel writers'


Review

'There is a pleasure to be had on every page. Here is a writer who can find something fascinating in the dullest characters and the most drab towns. He is a master stylist, too, revelling in the possibilities of language, striving always to be exact. Few travel writers can create atmosphere quite as thickly, but then few have such extraordinary anecdotes to tell...it [the anthology] serves as a reminder that Leigh Fermor is one of the greatest travel writers of all time' (Anthony Sattin, Sunday Times )

‘The finest travel writer of his generation’ Colin Thubron

‘The greatest of living travel writers’ Jan Morris

'Patrick Leigh Fermor is an exquisite among travel writers' (Sunday Telegraph )

'Paddy Leigh Fermor - war hero, linguist, adventurer - is at heart a great storyteller ... he draws the reader, like his huge acquaintance, into instant intimacy. His achievement is to be who he is – even more than what he has done. This collection beautifully illustrates both.’ (Max Hastings, SUNDAY TELEGRAPH )

'He makes exotic and entertaining friends wherever he goes, has read everything, been everywhere and writes like a dream' (The Times )
See all Product Description

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
 
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
See all 6 tags...

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags
 

Customer Reviews

3 Reviews
5 star:
 (1)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.0 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
56 of 58 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars The Master Returns, 18 Nov 2003
By Andrew Howell "andyhowell3" (Birmingham, UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Words of Mercury (Hardcover)
Is there really any greater literary event than the arrival of a new work by Leigh Fermor? Here is English prose of the very highest order with amazingly evocative portraits of people and places. There really is nobody else who writes such gorgeous prose, is so wonderfully authoritative (and loving) of people, places, language and culture.

I did wonder about buying this volume as, almost inevitably, I have all of his major published works on my bookshelf. But even when reading excerpts from classics like 'A time of Gifts' I felt I was getting acquainted with the people and places for the very first time.

But there are lots of unpublished gems here - or at least pieces that have been published in obscure and sometimes defunct publications.

The book is based on sections: travel; Greece; people; books as well as a section called 'flotsam' that includes a lovely piece on gluttony and a marvelous letter to Diana Cooper.

Paddy is as remarkable as ever. If I've not given this five stars it is only because it reminds me (so forcibly) that we are still awaiting the final installment of the trilogy covering the walk from Holland to Constantinople. But, anyhow, while we're all waiting the 'Words of Mercury' will simply encourage us to re-read the back catalogue. And who knows; when we've finished, perhaps the new volume will be ready!

I really can't believe that anyone reading this review will not have read Paddy's work before. But if you haven't, my goodness, your in for the literary treat of a lifetime!

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars A must for fans of Leigh-Fermor, 3 Nov 2004
By Ms. S. Hamilton "sphamilton" (London) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
... but if you already own all his books, be warned that about half this anthology is made up of extracts from Mani, Roumeli, A Time to Keep Silence, A Time of Gifts and other books. However, there are some interesting previously uncollected articles, reviews and profiles.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Enchanting, and a wonderful way with words (and people), 27 Jan 2009
By Dr. H. Beentje (Kew, England) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)      
In addition to the two reviews above - yes, some of it is familiar; fifty-five pages from 'Time of gifts' and 'between the woods and the water', but - oh joy - we get a bit of part III of The Walk, 'a cave on the Black Sea', obscurely published in the Holiday Magazine of May 1965. That alone makes it worth the price, I'd say. Another thirty pages from 'Mani' and 'Roumeli'; and - andra moi ennepe, Mousa - twelve pages on abducting a General, from a report written for the Imperial War Museum in 1969.
Bits from 'the Traveller's tree'; articles from the Spectator; biographical bits, book reviews, and even a section called, simply, 'flotsam'. It is all most enjoyable, and his way of writing gives me jolts of pleasure; it is the way the words fit together, calling up vistas, smells, unseen mysteries and long-gone times.
I am not quite sure why everyone alweays calls Leigh Fermor a travel writer. Sure, he travels a lot; but surely, he is a people writer first of all. And a history writer, a myth writer, a place-and-atmosphere writer; a wonderful writer. Five stars, even if some of the reviews are too erudite for me. A trove of treasure, this one. I recommend it to your attention, and pleasure.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 

   

Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Look for similar items by subject








i.e., each product must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...

Feedback

Ad

Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.