{"product_id":"cypria-a-journey-to-the-heart-of-cyprus-paperback","title":"Cypria: A Journey to the Heart of Cyprus (Paperback)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003eSHORTLISTED FOR THE ANGLO-HELLENIC LEAGUE RUNCIMAN AWARD 2025\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003e\"A brilliant exploration of Cyprus's long history of cultural resilience. Superbly composed.\" -- Guardian\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003eOne of\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold a-text-italic\"\u003eNational Geographic\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003e's Summer Reads 2024\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThink 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eCypria\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, named after a lost Cypriot epic which was the prequel to \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eThe Odyssey\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWritten in sensitive, witty and beautifully rendered prose, with a novelist's flair and eye for detail, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eCypria\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e combines the political, cultural and geographical history of Cyprus with reflections on time, place and belonging.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Alex Christofi","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45374680432818,"sku":"9781399401906","price":245.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0562\/9191\/8002\/files\/9781399401906.jpg?v=1749637746","url":"https:\/\/www.wordsworth.co.za\/products\/cypria-a-journey-to-the-heart-of-cyprus-paperback","provider":"Wordsworth Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}