| Check out one of the large
bookstore chains or the websites of Barnes
& Noble / Amazon.com for the following
great books.
Winds of Crete---David Macneil Doren
Life in 1960's Crete as seen by an American
couple living amongst the local Cretan inhabitants.
Good perspective on everyday life forty
years ago, before cell-phones, multiple
motor vehicles and mass tourism.
ILL Met by Moonlight---W. Stanley
Moss
Set in World War II Crete, the true story
of the abduction of a German Nazi High Command
General by a covert British commando unit.
A must read for anyone interested in modern
Cretan history. The 1957 film "Night
Ambush" was based on this story.
Zorba the Greek---Nikos Kazantzakis
Kazantzakis' classic masterpiece novel based
on the true-life title character of the
same name. It tells the story of an Englishman,
who travels to pre-war Crete to set up a
mining venture on some inherited land. On
the boat from Athens to Crete he meets Alexis
Zorba, an older, streetwise, battle hardened
character, who lives life on life's terms.
Their ensuing friendship is always an interesting
contrast of two minds and cultures. There
are also many memorable secondary characters
such as the Widow. The Oscar winning 1963
Michael Cacoyiannis film shot in the Chania
/ Akrotiri region with Anthony Quinn, Alan
Bates and Irene Pappas is a must see on
video. Read the book first. I won't mention
any memorable quotes, as there are so many...(SE)
The Cretan Runner---George Psychoundakis
Written by a Cretan who was active
in the resistance, this gripping and moving
book is essential reading for anyone who
wants to understand what life was like in
the struggle against the Nazi occupation
of Crete. Historically, its value may be
that it is one of the rare first-hand accounts
written by an active member of the local
resistance who daily risked his life as
he worked with the Allies. The brutality
of the Germans is well-documented and contrasts
sharply with the lack of desire for revenge
by the Cretans. The selflessness, bravery
and 'levendia' of the author and his comrades
(and let's not forget the many young men
from Britain and the Commonwealth who fought
and died thousands of miles from home) is
humbling and, particularly for those who
were too young or lucky not to know the
horrors of that dark time in Crete's blood-soaked
history, serve as a much-needed reminder
of the debt owed to the many who sacrificed
so much.
Psychoundakis is a natural storyteller
who writes in a direct and brilliantly articulate
style despite being uneducated. His prose
speaks to and from the heart and the book
grips like the best thriller; if only the
terrible events he recounts were fiction,
but they are an indelible part of the island's
long and centuries- old struggle for freedom
and the heavy price paid for it. Ultimately,
it is a story of the triumph of the human
, and particularly Cretan, spirit.
The poignant and unhappy footnote is that
the author was poorly rewarded for his heroics
and is still alive in reduced circumstances
in the village of his birth. This is nothing
less than a scandal but unfortunately, perhaps,
only symptomatic of the fact that in Greece
we fail to honour and recognise our heroes
until it is too late.
For a scholarly and thorough account of
the German occupation of Greece, read the
excellent "Inside Hitler's Greece -
The Experience of Occupation" by Mark
Mazower. This points out that often the
Greeks were their own worst enemies and
shows how ill-served the country was by
a never-ending wave of ineffectual politicians.
---Nicholas Economakis...(London, England.) |
