A WATERSTONES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2024
"A brilliant exploration of Cyprus-s long history of cultural resilience. Superbly composed." -- Guardian
"Poetic...Compelling" -- New Statesman
One of National Geographic''s Summer Reads 2024
Think 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.
In Cypria, named after a lost Cypriot epic which was the prequel to The Odyssey, 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.
