A gifted novelist's stimulating journey down the Danube from its source in the heart of what once was the Austro-Hungarian Empire through the Balkans to the Black Sea. The book is an intellectually charged, evocative portrait of the places and personalities of Central Europe. Magris is an erudite, cerebral guide with a penchant for history. On some level, this wholly unclassifiable book is a travelogue.  (EUR58, $16.00)

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A Time of Gifts
Patrick Leigh Fermor
TRAVEL NARRATIVE •  2005 • PAPER  • 384 PAGES
Fermor effortlessly interweaves anecdote, history and culture in this exuberant account of a walk from Holland, up the Rhine and down the Danube in 1933, through Germany, Prague and Austria. The now-accomplished author reflects on adventures 40 years past with perspective and a sweet nostalgia. The adventure continues in Between the Woods and Water (CEU31), which takes the young adventurer to the Iron Gates, which divide the Carpathian mountains from the Balkans. (CEU30, $16.95)

Between the Woods and the Water
Patrick Leigh Fermor
TRAVEL NARRATIVE •  2005 • PAPER  • 320 PAGES
Fermor's classic account of walking across Europe in 1933 continues with his youthful adventures in Hungary and Romania, culminating with his arrival at the Iron Gates, marking the divide with the Balkan Peninsula. (CEU31, $15.95)