<div><B>From the <I>New York Times</I>&ndash;bestselling author of the Alexandria Quartet: &ldquo;A superlative piece of . . . writing . . . rooted in the Mediterranean scene&rdquo; (<I>Time</I>).</B> In 1953, as the British Empire relaxes its grip upon the world, the island of Cyprus bucks for independence. Some cry for union with Athens, others for an arrangement that would split the island down the middle, giving half to the Greeks and the rest to the Turks. For centuries, the battle for the Mediterranean has been fought on this tiny spit of land, and now Cyprus threatens to rip itself in half. Into this escalating conflict steps Lawrence Durrell&mdash;poet, novelist, and a former British government official. After years serving the Crown in the Balkans, he yearns for a return to the island lifestyle of his youth. With humor, grace, and passable Greek, Durrell buys a house, secures a job, and settles in for quiet living, happy to put up his feet until the natives begin to consider wringing his neck. More than a travel memoir, this is an elegant picture of island life in a changing world.</div>

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Bitter Lemons of Cyprus

<div><B>This &ldquo;very remarkable novel&rdquo;&mdash;first in the acclaimed Alexandria Quartet&mdash;tells a haunting story of love, desire, and deception in the Egyptian city pre-WWII (</B><B><I>New York Herald Tribune Book Review</I></B><B>).</B><BR />  Set in Alexandria, Egypt, in the years between World Wars I and II, <I>Justine</I> is the first installment in the distinguished Alexandria Quartet. Here Lawrence Durrell crafts an exquisite and challenging modern novel that explores tragic love and the fluidity of recollection. Employing a fluctuating narrative and poetic prose, Durrell recounts his unnamed narrator&rsquo;s all-encompassing romance with the intoxicating Justine. The result is a matchless work that confronts all we understand and believe about sexual desire, identity, place, and the certainty of time. This ebook contains a new introduction by Jan Morris.</div>

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Justine

<div><B>A four-part story of passion and betrayal in the Mediterranean&mdash;voted one of the Modern Library&rsquo;s 100 Best Novels of the twentieth century.</B><BR />  The Alexandria Quartet is a striking and sensuous masterpiece, breathing vivid life into each of its unforgettable characters and the dusty Mediterranean city in which they live. Set in Alexandria, Egypt, in the years before, during, and after World War II, the books follow the lives of a circle of friends and lovers, including sensitive Darley, passionate Justine, philosophical Balthazar, and elegant Clea. Written in Durrell&rsquo;s trademark evocative prose, these four novels explore the central theme of modern love, building into a remarkable whole that the <I>New York Times </I>hailed as &ldquo;one of the most important works of our time.&rdquo; <I>This ebook features a new introduction by Jan Morris.</I></div>

The Alexandria Quartet

<div><B>From the olive trees of southern France to Gnostic cults in Egypt, a man and his lovers are invented and reinvented in this first volume of a great literary adventure.</B><B> </B>For British doctor Bruce Drexel, a return to Provence is bittersweet. Here, at a rustic chateau, he once fell in love with Sylvie, the Frenchwoman who would become his wife, and befriended her brother, Piers. The three made up a peculiar, potent m&eacute;nage for years until Sylvie&rsquo;s descent into madness and Piers&rsquo;s suicide. As Drexel attends to Piers&rsquo;s affairs, he becomes steeped in the memories of a spiritually transformational trip to Egypt; the band of intellectual confederates who used to be his intimate friends; and a three-sided love that became his reason for being. So begins <I>Monsieur</I>, the masterful first entry of Durrell&rsquo;s Avignon Quintet, an infinite regress of memory and imagination that challenges the formal conventions of fiction. </div>

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Monsieur

<div><b>The astounding third offering in Durrell&rsquo;s Alexandria Quartet, a richly detailed and extraordinary expansion of the events of <i>Justine </i>and <i>Balthazar</i></b><BR>David Mountolive is a British diplomat who views love as just another everyday transaction. But as romance turns to betrayal and secret alliances are exposed, Mountolive&rsquo;s affair will bring the true complexity of contemporary love to the forefront amid the swirling political climate of Alexandria.  Continuing to push beyond the limits of the traditional novel, Lawrence Durrell maintains his unwavering focus in <i>Mountolive</i>. He recasts the romantic affairs and liaisons he so skillfully established in <i>Justine </i>and <i>Balthazar</i> through the eyes of the young Mountolive, building toward the series&rsquo; stunning conclusion.    This ebook contains a new introduction by Jan Morris.</div>

Mountolive

<div><b>The final installment of the Alexandria Quartet, hailed by the <i>New York Times Book Review </i>as &ldquo;one of the most important works of our time&rdquo;</b><BR>Years after his liaisons with Justine and Melissa, Darley becomes immersed in a relationship with Clea, a bisexual artist. The ensuing chain of events transforms not only the lovers, but the dead as well, and leads to the series&rsquo; brilliant and unexpected resolution.  Praised by <i>Life </i>as among the &ldquo;most discussed and widely admired serious fiction of our time,&rdquo; <i>Clea </i>carries on Durrell&rsquo;s assured and unwavering style, and confirms the series&rsquo; standing as a resounding masterpiece of twentieth-century fiction. This ebook contains a new introduction by Jan Morris.<BR></div>

Clea

<div><b>The deeply affecting second novel of theAlexandria Quartet, which boldly questions perception and the nature of contemporary love</b><BR>In Alexandria, Egypt, in the years before World War II, Durrell&rsquo;s narrator, Darley, seeks to fully understand his sexual obsession with two women: the infamous Justine, and Melissa, a dancer. In Darley&rsquo;s conversations with Balthazar, a doctor and mystic, it soon becomes clear that Darley&rsquo;s fixation is more complex and ominous than either man could have imagined. Layered and unflinching, <i>Balthazar</i> is a poignant examination of the modern psyche, and a study of a world where love can become consumed by deceit.  This ebook contains a new introduction by Jan Morris.</div>

Balthazar

<div><B>A collection of travel essays from the bestselling author whose writing sparkles with &ldquo;prose as luminous as the Mediterranean air he loves&rdquo; (<I>Time</I>).</B> Few men have traveled as wisely as Lawrence Durrell. Born in India, he lived in Corfu as a young man, enjoying salt air, cobalt water, and an unfettered bohemian lifestyle. Over the following decades, he rambled around the Mediterranean, making homes in Egypt, Cyprus, and Greece. Each time he moved, he asked himself why he felt compelled to travel. In this book, he gives his answer. Durrell knew that the wise traveler looks not for pleasure, education, or landmarks, but is hungry for a sense of place&mdash;the element of a landscape, city, or nation that makes its people who they are. In this anthology, passages from Durrell&rsquo;s classic Mediterranean writings are paired with observations on other lands. His writing is poetic, lush, and achingly clear, for this was a man who truly saw the world.</div>

The Lawrence Durrell Travel Reader

<div><b>Who will survive the Labyrinth of Crete?</b><BR>A group of English cruise-ship tourists debark to visit the isle of Crete&rsquo;s famed labyrinth, the City in the Rock. The motley gathering includes a painter, a poet, a soldier, an elderly married couple, a medium, a convalescent girl, and the mysterious Lord Gracean. The group is prepared for a trifling day of sightseeing and maybe even a glimpse of the legendary Minotaur, but instead is suddenly stuck in a nightmare when a rockslide traps them deep within the labyrinth. Who among the passengers will make it out alive? And for those who emerge, will anything ever be the same?</div>

The Dark Labyrinth

<div><B>&ldquo;The first piece of work by a new English writer to give me any hope for the future of prose fiction.&rdquo; &mdash;T. S. Eliot</B><BR /><BR /> As over-the-top as it is inventive, Durrell&rsquo;s breakthrough novel is a series of sordid vignettes drawn from the lives of decadent artists, doomed bohemians, and continental rascals inhabiting a shabby London hotel, narrated in turns by the unforgettable Lawrence Lucifer and Gregory Death. Together, these characters seek to escape the absurdity of a Europe haunted by devastating war, yet beginning to pitch toward another apocalypse. First published in 1938, and influenced by Henry Miller and the sincere pranksterism of the surrealist movement, <I>The Black Book</I> marks the emergence of one of the most revolutionary voices in twentieth-century English literature. This ebook contains a new introduction by DBC Pierre.</div>

The Black Book

<div><b>A breathtaking novel of passion and politics, set in the hotbed of Palestine in the 1940s, by a master of twentieth-century fiction</b><b><BR></b><BR>It is the eve of Britain&rsquo;s withdrawal from Palestine in 1948, a moment that will mark the beginning of a new Israel. But the course of history is uncertain, and Israel&rsquo;s territorial enemies plan to smother the new country at its birth. Judith Roth has escaped the concentration camps in Germany only to be plunged into the new conflict, one with stakes just as high for her as they are for her people. Initially conceived as a screenplay for the 1966 film starring Sophia Loren, Lawrence Durrell&rsquo;s previously unpublished novel offers a thrilling portrayal of a place and time when ancient history crashed against the fragile bulwarks of the modernizing world. This ebook features an introduction by editor Richard Pine, which puts <i>Judith </i>in context with Durrell&rsquo;s body of work and traces the fascinating development of the novel. Also included is an illustrated biography of Lawrence Durrell containing rare images and never-before-seen documents from the author&rsquo;s estate and the British Library&rsquo;s modern manuscripts collection.</div>

Judith

<div><B>A former member of Great Britain&rsquo;s diplomatic corps, the celebrated author of the Alexandria Quartet offers eleven sketches of life in service of the crown. </B><BR />  After decades spent representing Britain around the globe, Antrobus has earned a shirtful of medals and the right to pass afternoons in his London club, musing over old times. His memory is long, and every old embarrassment still rankles&mdash;no matter how ridiculous. The incident with the Yugoslav ghost train, for instance, still causes him to clench his fists in fear. When he speaks of Sir Claud Polk-Mowbray, he takes pains to lower his voice&mdash;lest an American hear. And his stomach has never recovered from the incident involving the fried flag. Based on Lawrence Durrell&rsquo;s own experience in the diplomatic corps, Antrobus&rsquo;s cutting observation is drawn from the strange and humorous truth. Few are those with a better sense of place than Durrell, and even fewer with wit to match.</div>

Esprit de Corps

<div><B>From a member of the real-life family portrayed in <I>The Durrells in Corfu</I>, this memoir of the idyllic Greek island is &ldquo;among the best books ever written&rdquo; (<I>The New York Times</I>).</B><BR />  <BR /> Before Lawrence Durrell became a renowned novelist, poet, and travel writer, he spent four youthful years on Corfu, an island jewel with beauty to match the long and fascinating history within its rocky shores. While his brother, Gerald, was collecting animals as a budding naturalist, Lawrence fished, drank, and lived with the natives in the years leading up to World War II, sheltered from the tumult that was engulfing Europe&mdash;until finally he could ignore the world no longer. Durrell left for Alexandria, to serve his country as a wartime diplomat, but never forgot the wonders of Corfu.<BR />  <BR /> In this &ldquo;brilliant&rdquo; journey through that idyllic time and place, Durrell returns to the land that made him so happy, blending his love of history with memories of his adventures there (<I>The Economist</I>). Like the blue Aegean, <I>Prospero&rsquo;s Cell</I> is deep and crystal clear, offering a perfect view straight to the heart of a nation.<BR />  </div>

Prospero's Cell

<div><B>A moving account of friendship and discovery on the island of Sicily from the acclaimed travel writer and bestselling author of <I>The Alexandria Quartet</I>.</B><BR />   Despite decades spent writing poetic evocations of the timeless pleasures of life in the Mediterranean, Lawrence Durrell had never set foot on the sea&rsquo;s largest island: mysterious, impenetrable Sicily. For years his friend Martine begged him to visit her on this sun-kissed paradise, and though he always intended to, life inevitably interfered. It took Martine&rsquo;s sudden death to finally bring him to the island&rsquo;s shores. With Martine&rsquo;s letters in his pocket, Durrell signs up for a tour group, hoping to learn the travel habits of those who aren&rsquo;t obsessively devoted to island life. As he treks from sight to sight, dizzy with history and culture, Durrell finds echoes of his past lives in Rhodes, Cyprus, and Corfu.</div>

Sicilian Carousel

<div><b>The finest of Lawrence Durrell&rsquo;s classic short stories of diplomatic mischief</b><BR>Dark is the day when culture comes to Sczbog. The capital of Vulgaria, nestled snugly behind the Iron Curtain, has long been devoid of higher thought, and that is the way the men in the British embassy like it. But when the French embassy gives a lecture on literature, it ignites a chain reaction of unwanted cultural exchange, subjecting the King&rsquo;s men to endless nights of Dutch poetry, Japanese theater, and Swiss yodeling. Extricating themselves from this high-minded mess will take a miracle of a most unpolitic kind. This is a typical incident in the long and colorful career of Antrobus, diplomat in his Majesty&rsquo;s service. In these pages, he confronts waltzing ambassadors, half-mad press secretaries, and a gruesome Kurdish circumcision. Through it all, he and his men stay calm, knowing that the surest way to cause a diplomatic incident is to make the mistake of attempting diplomacy. </div>

The Best of Antrobus

<div><B>With Europe reduced to rubble after the Second World War, Constance must seek knowledge beyond the modern in order to heal her patients&mdash;and herself.</B> In Durrell&rsquo;s fourth installment of the Avignon Quintet, Constance returns to Europe after the end of World War II. A Freudian analyst, she treats the shell-shocked, the battle-fatigued, and other despairing survivors in Geneva. She also treats the traumatized, autistic son of her former lover, Sebastian&mdash;a situation that draws her back into the mysterious cult that the sensitive and charismatic Sebastian led in the deserts of Egypt. In <I>Sebastian</I>, Constance&rsquo;s pursuit of wisdom in the midst of Europe&rsquo;s blackest night is rendered as a gorgeous and heartbreaking quest for truth in a world full of illusion. </div>

Sebastian

<div> <B>From the visionary author of the Alexandria Quartet comes a landmark five-part series </B><B>hailed by the <I>Sunday Times </I>as &ldquo;one of the great novels of our time.&rdquo;</B><BR /><BR /> One of the most celebrated English writers ever, Lawrence Durrell was a bestselling author whose vivid metafictions pushed the boundaries of modern literature. The cosmopolitan provocateur transcended borders, ideologies, and time in his work, and he&rsquo;s at the height of his powers in the Avignon Quintet.<BR />  <BR /> More formally daring than the Alexandria Quartet, these sweeping and stylish novels set before, during, and after World War II loosely center on the race to uncover a treasure buried by the Knights Templar. Each reveals a seemingly disparate piece of the puzzle. In <I>Monsieur</I>, it&rsquo;s the bittersweet return to southern France by a British doctor; in <I>Livia</I>, it&rsquo;s two sisters driven apart by the rise of Nazism in Europe. In <I>Constance</I>, a Freudian analyst struggles for clarity in a world on fire; in <I>Sebastian</I>, she reconnects with the charismatic cult leader she knew in the deserts of Egypt. And in <I>Quinx</I>, long-buried plots reemerge as the past and future are funneled into the present.<BR />  <BR /> Durrell himself described the Avignon Quintet as a &ldquo;quincunx,&rdquo; a series of novels &ldquo;roped together like climbers on a rockface, but all independent.&rdquo; Together they form a powerful meditation on the search for meaning in a world of chaos and brutality.<BR />  </div>

The Avignon Quintet

<div><B>&ldquo;Proof that Durrell can master any genre . . . [a] quiet but suspenseful spy thriller . . . with some similarities to Ian Fleming&rsquo;s James Bond&rdquo; (Early Bird Books).</B><BR />  After some especially taxing missions, seasoned secret agent Methuen wants nothing more than to take a long, relaxing fishing trip. But after a fellow British spy is killed in the remote mountains of Serbia, Methuen is called back into action. What follows is a suspenseful tale of espionage told with Lawrence Durrell&rsquo;s characteristic panache. Methuen sets up camp in the Serbian countryside and baits his hooks, hoping to draw out the men responsible for the murder. It&rsquo;s not long before Methuen realizes that he&rsquo;s in a fight for his own life against an unknown opponent. Are his true enemies the Communists, the royalist rebel White Eagles . . . or someone more sinister? </div>

White Eagles Over Serbia

<div><B>The celebrated author of the Alexandria Quartet offers a collection of comic tales about the British Empire&rsquo;s colonial diplomats.</B><BR />  As the overseer of the kitchen at the British embassy in Vulgaria, De Mandeville has begun to abuse his power. He subjects the King&rsquo;s guests to a blistering Madras curry, a French onion soup served without spoons, and a table so loaded with vegetation that the party can hardly see the food. But worst of all, he has begun to cook with garlic, that fragrant bulb so beloved by diplomats that it must be banned, lest foul breath cripple the Empire. De Mandeville is due for comeuppance, and no breath mint can save him now. &ldquo;If Garlic Be the Food of Love&rdquo; is only the first story in this invaluable peek at life in British diplomatic circles. After the ninth, the reader will wonder not how the British Empire came apart, but how De Mandeville, Polk-Mowbray, and the King&rsquo;s other dips ever got it started in the first place.</div>

Stiff Upper Lip

<div><B>At the dawn of World War II, Livia and her sister Constance commit themselves to separate sides of a historic struggle in the second volume of the Avignon Quintet.</B> The second book of Durrell&rsquo;s inventive and inspiring Avignon Quintet, <I>Livia </I>follows the currents of longing and regret, and the shifting illusions of memory, that began in <I>Monsieur</I>. Two sisters, Livia and Constance, have already led remarkable lives as scholars, lovers of artists, and seekers of the forbidden wisdom of Gnostic sages. As Europe is shaken by the rise of fascism, the two sisters find themselves driven apart by shifting alliances. <I>Livia</I> is rich with Durrell&rsquo;s unmistakable, gorgeous prose and breathtaking insights into love and the idiosyncrasies of the human heart. </div>

Livia

<div><b>A pair of lectures from one of the twentieth century&rsquo;s most mesmerizing speakers</b><BR>Lawrence Durrell was in his early twenties when, tired of the stiffness of London life, he took his family to live in Corfu. Interwar Greece, whose hard beds and mosquito swarms Durrell documented so tenderly in <i>Prospero&rsquo;s Cell</i>, was no more. In the first of this pair of lectures, given during a 1970s visit to California, Durrell recalls those days, talking of family, poetry, and the joy of the islands as no other writer can. When war came to the Mediterranean, Durrell was swept into diplomatic service, an adventure he recounts in his second lecture. Though a diplomat of the modern world, he served under men whose experience stretched back to the days before the telephone, when solutions for crises had to be devised by the ambassador, and not phoned in from London. These two lectures on long-vanished worlds are an elegant demonstration of the evocative power of Durrell&rsquo;s unmatched storytelling.</div>

Blue Thirst

<div><B>The &ldquo;virtuoso&rdquo; author&rsquo;s memoir of his spiritual journey with famed Taoist philosopher Jolan</B> <B>Chang (<I>The New York Times</I>).</B><BR />  Beginning with their first meeting over lunch at Lawrence Durrell&rsquo;s Provencal home, Durrell and Jolan Chang&mdash;renowned Taoist philosopher and expert on Eastern sexuality&mdash;developed an enduring relationship based on mutual spiritual exploration. Durrell&rsquo;s autobiographical rumination on their friendship and on Taoism recounts the author&rsquo;s existential ponderings, starting with his introduction to the mystical and enigmatic &ldquo;smile in the mind&rsquo;s eye.&rdquo; From parsimony, cooking, and yoga to poetry, Petrarch, and Nietzche, <I>A Smile in the Mind&rsquo;s Eye</I> is a charming tale of a writer&rsquo;s spiritual and philosophical awakening.</div>

A Smile in the Mind's Eye

<div><B>An idealistic inventor is seduced by a mysterious firm in this Faustian novel by the &ldquo;virtuoso&rdquo; author of <I>Justine</I> (<I>The New York Times</I>).</B><BR />  Felix Charlock&rsquo;s scientific genius is unrivaled&mdash;and so is his very special invention. So special, in fact, that a shadowy and enigmatic international firm, called Merlin, recruits Felix and marries him into the family. He is betrothed to the erratic Merlin heiress, Benedicta, and given access to an inexhaustible fortune. Yet he longs to be free of the psychological and scientific toll the mysterious firm inflicts. The inscrutable Merlin is always one step ahead, and twists and turns ensue in this tale of sexual and moral intrigue that leaves Felix&rsquo;s future&mdash;and his sanity&mdash;on uncertain ground.</div>

Tunc

<div><b>The definitive collection of travel writings by one of the twentieth century&rsquo;s best-loved journeyers</b><BR>From the moment of his birth, Lawrence Durrell was far from home. A British child in India, he was sent to England to receive an education, and by his early twenties had already tired of his native land. With family in tow, he departed for Greece, and spent the rest of his life wandering the world. He traveled not to sightsee but to live, and made homes in Egypt, France, Yugoslavia, and Argentina. Each time he landed, he rooted himself deep into the native soil, taking in not just the sights and sounds of his new land, but the essential character of the country. In these letters and essays, Durrell exhibits the power of poetic observation that made his travel writing so extraordinary to post&ndash;World War II readers. In these pages he reminds us not just of each country&rsquo;s hidden charms, but of the unique characteristics that persist through the generations. </div>

Spirit of Place

<div><B>A desperate scientist&rsquo;s mastery of technology may save him&mdash;or be his undoing&mdash;in this follow-up to <I>Tunc</I> by the <I>New York Times</I>&ndash;bestselling literary master.</B> The ominous and compelling sequel to Durrell&rsquo;s <I>Tunc</I> finds gifted inventor Felix Charlock called upon by the sinister international firm, Merlin, to apply his scientific prowess to a seemingly impossible project. He must literally reinvent his lost lover, Iolanthe, in the form of a living, breathing replica. Merlin&rsquo;s dark project leads Felix on a fantastic undertaking. In recreating his former love, Felix knows that he will either find what he had thought lost, or the technology&mdash;his very life&rsquo;s blood&mdash;will be the end of him.</div>

Nunquam

<div><B>With the Second World War in full fury, Constance must explore the psyche of a mad world in order to save herself and those closest to her in the third volume of the Avignon Quintet.</B> Durrell&rsquo;s beautiful Avignon Quintet continues with this harrowing, tumultuous installment. Here the protagonist is Constance, a psychoanalyst and mystic struggling for clarity in a world on fire with war, hatred, and inexplicable brutality. Her quest for sanity takes her through the deserts of Egypt (and into the arms of the leader of a suicide cult), through war-ravaged Poland, and finally into ancient Avignon. In the fields of southern France, Constance sees a religious historical drama come to a close&mdash;a mysterious narrative that began with the Knights Templar and ends with Hitler&rsquo;s mad grab for power. </div>

Constance

<div><B>After World War II, an Englishman seeks peace on an ancient Greek island in this</B><B> &ldquo;remarkable&rdquo; travel memoir (<I>The New York Times</I>).</B><BR />  Islomania is a disease not yet classified by Western science, but to those afflicted its symptoms are all too recognizable. Men like Lawrence Durrell are struck by a powerful need to live on the ancient islands of the Mediterranean, where the clear blue Aegean is always within reach. After four tortuous wartime years in Egypt, Durrell finds a post on the island of Rhodes, where the British are attempting to return Greece to the sleepy peace it enjoyed in the &rsquo;30s. From his first morning, when a dip in the frigid sea jolts him awake for what feels like the first time in years, Durrell breathes in the fullest joys of island life, meeting villagers, eating exotic food, and throwing back endless bottles of ouzo, as though the war had never happened at all. The charms of his stay there still resonate today, for the pleasures of Greece are older than history itself.</div>

Reflections on a Marine Venus

<div><B>In the final volume of a quintet, a hunt for ancient treasure in southern France lays bare the flawed philosophies that animated the Second World War.</B> Just after World War II, a motley assortment of treasure hunters, mystics, psychoanalysts, and former Nazis race to uncover a treasure buried centuries before by the Knights Templar. Durrell displays his diabolical playfulness and immense imagination as his characters meet and become entangled, long-buried plots reemerge, and the past and future are funneled into the present action. Here the music of the Alexandria Quintetresolves as a symphony, and the series as a whole emerges as a worthy and enduring entry to Durrell&rsquo;s distinguished career.</div>

Quinx

<div><b>For the British delegation to Vulgaria, no problem is too small to become a crisis in this lively story collection of diplomatic misadventure</b><BR>In the words of Antrobus, master diplomat in the King&rsquo;s service, diplomacy was once &ldquo;a quiet and restful trade carried on in soothing inanity among a hundred shady legations and embassies all over the globe.&rdquo; What changed? What caused this most noble profession to fall from grace? Women, of course. A diplomatic incident begins brewing as soon as the lovely new French ambassador&mdash;or is it ambassadress?&mdash;arrives in Vulgaria. One of the British delegation is instantly besotted, and about to begin his pursuit when a rival appears in the form of roguish Italian diplomat Bonzo di Porco. Because these are servants of the most advanced governments in the world, they settle their dispute rationally: with swords. Jealousy, selfishness, swordplay? All are commonplace in Antrobus&rsquo;s embassy. In these nine juicy tales, the King&rsquo;s diplomats may seldom be diplomatic, but they always manage to get the job done&mdash;with or without bloodshed.<BR></div>

Sauve Qui Peut

<div><B>Travel memoirs &ldquo;as luminous as the Mediterranean air&rdquo; from the acclaimed author of the Alexandria Quartet, who is featured in <I>The Durrells in Corfu </I>(<I>Time</I>).</B><BR />  <BR /> Born in India, acclaimed British novelist and poet Lawrence Durrell lived in Corfu as a young man, enjoying salt air, cobalt water, and an unfettered bohemian lifestyle, along with his brother, Gerald, who would also go on to be a writer and a naturalist. Their real-life family is portrayed in the PBS Masterpiece production, <I>The Durrells in Corfu</I>. Over the following decades, he rambled around the Mediterranean, making homes in Egypt, Cyprus, and Greece, always bringing his poet&rsquo;s eye to document his experiences.<BR />  <BR /><I>Prospero&rsquo;s Cell</I>: Along with his family, Lawrence Durrell spent four youthful years on Corfu, an island jewel with beauty to match its fascinating history. While his brother, Gerald, was collecting animals as a budding naturalist, Lawrence fished, drank, and lived with the natives in the years leading up to World War II, sheltered from the tumult that was engulfing Europe&mdash;until finally he could ignore the world no longer. Durrell left for Alexandria, to serve his country as a wartime diplomat, but never forgot the wonders of Corfu, captured so beautifully in this &ldquo;brilliant&rdquo; memoir (<I>The Economist</I>).<BR />  <BR /> &ldquo;In its gem-like miniature quality, [<I>Prospero&rsquo;s Cell</I>] is among the best books ever written.&rdquo; &mdash;<I>The New York Times</I><BR />  <BR /><I>Reflections on a Marine Venus</I>: After four tortuous wartime years in Egypt, Durrell finds a post on the island of Rhodes, where the British are attempting to return Greece to the sleepy peace it enjoyed in the 1930s. From a dip in the frigid Aegean Sea, which jolts him awake for what feels like the first time in years, Durrell breathes in the joys of island life, meeting villagers, eating exotic food, and throwing back endless bottles of ouzo.<BR />  <BR /> &ldquo;Sparkles with . . . intense energy . . . brilliance and fire.&rdquo; &mdash;<I>The Christian Science Monitor</I><BR />  <BR /><I>Spirit of Place</I>: In these letters and essays, Durrell exhibits the power of poetic observation that continues to make his travel writing so vivid and fresh. He traveled not to sightsee but to live, and made homes in the Mediterranean, Egypt, France, Yugoslavia, and Argentina. Each time he landed, he rooted himself deep into the native soil, taking in not just the sights and sounds of his new land, but the essential character of the country, which he brings to life in these pages.<BR />  <BR /> &ldquo;The letters depict the brio of Durrell&rsquo;s existence with intoxicating vividness.&rdquo; &mdash;<I>The New York Times</I></div>

Lawrence Durrell's Notes on Travel Volume Two

<div><B>The complete Antrobus stories of diplomatic mischief comprise &ldquo;a rewarding cocktail based on two parts Wodehouse and half a part of H. H. Munro&rdquo; (<I>The New York Times</I>).</B><BR />  <BR /> Versatile British novelist, travel writer, and member of the real-life family portrayed in the PBS Masterpiece production, <I>The Durrells in Corfu</I>, Lawrence Durrell worked in the Foreign Service during and after World War II, where he experienced the absurdities of international diplomacy firsthand.<BR />  <BR /> Here are the complete misadventures of British diplomat Antrobus at his post in Vulgaria, behind the Iron Curtain, featuring delightful illustrations. &ldquo;These tales of comic woe, small disasters, goofs, gaffes and misadventures from the ridiculous to the absurd depict the vaudeville of a government bureaucracy&rdquo; (<I>Publishers Weekly</I>).<BR />  <BR /><I>Esprit de Corps</I>: After decades spent representing Britain around the globe, Antrobus has earned countless medals and the right to pass afternoons in his London club, musing over old times. Unfortunately, every old embarrassment still rankles&mdash;no matter how ridiculous. The incident with the Yugoslav ghost train, for instance, still causes him to clench his fists in fear. When he speaks of Sir Claud Polk-Mowbray, he takes pains to lower his voice&mdash;lest an American hear. And his stomach has never recovered from a potentially disastrous misprint: &ldquo;THE BALKAN HERALD KEEPS THE BRITISH FLAG FRYING.&rdquo;<BR />  <BR /> &ldquo;My goodness it is funny.&rdquo; &mdash;<I>The Daily Telegraph</I><BR />  <BR /><I>Stiff Upper Lip</I>: In &ldquo;If Garlic Be the Food of Love,&rdquo; the overseer of the kitchen at the British embassy in Vulgaria is flagrantly abusing his power. He has begun serving food with garlic! Does he mean to cripple international diplomacy with foul breath? No mere mint can save him now. After this initial taste, eight more stories make it abundantly clear why Antrobus nicknames his fellow diplomats &ldquo;dips.&rdquo;<BR />  <BR /> &ldquo;No person, place or thing can ever quite remain the same for us after we have seen, smelled, tasted, heard and felt it through the senses of Lawrence Durrell.&rdquo; &mdash;<I>Saturday Review</I><BR />  <BR /><I>Sauve Qui Peut</I>: In &ldquo;What-ho on the Rialto!&rdquo; a diplomatic incident begins brewing as soon as the lovely new French ambassador&mdash;or is it ambassadress?&mdash;arrives in Vulgaria. One of the British delegation is instantly besotted, and about to begin his pursuit when a rival appears in the form of roguish Italian diplomat Bonzo di Porco. As gentlemen, they settle their dispute rationally: with swords. Eight more sharp-witted examples of international relations follow.<BR />  <BR /> &ldquo;Very funny, impeccably phrased.&rdquo; &mdash;<I>Kirkus Reviews</I></div>

Diplomatic Adventures

<div><B>Travel writing &ldquo;as luminous as the Mediterranean air&rdquo; from the acclaimed author of the Alexandria Quartet, who is featured in PBS&rsquo;s <I>The Durrells in Corfu </I>(<I>Time</I>).</B><BR />  <BR /> Born in India, acclaimed British novelist and poet Lawrence Durrell lived in Corfu as a young man, enjoying salt air, cobalt water, and an unfettered bohemian lifestyle, along with his brother, Gerald, who would also go on to be a writer and a naturalist. Their real-life family is portrayed in the PBS Masterpiece production, <I>The Durrells in Corfu</I>. Over the following decades, he rambled around the Mediterranean, making homes in Egypt, Cyprus, and Greece, always bringing his poet&rsquo;s eye to document his experiences.<BR />  <BR /><I>Blue Thirst</I>: In the first of a pair of lectures, given during a 1970s visit to California, Durrell recalls his family&rsquo;s time living on the Greek island of Corfu, expanding on his eloquent memoir, <I>Prospero&rsquo;s Cell</I>. When the Second World War came to the Mediterranean, Durrell was swept into diplomatic service, an adventure he vividly recounts in his powerful second lecture.<BR />  <BR /> &ldquo;[Durrell&rsquo;s] travel books arrive like long letters from a civilized and very funny friend.&rdquo; &mdash;<I>Time</I><BR />  <BR /><I>Sicilian Carousel</I>: For years, Durrell&rsquo;s friend Martine had begged him to visit her on the sun-kissed paradise of Sicily, but it took her sudden death to finally bring him to the island&rsquo;s shores. With Martine&rsquo;s letters in his pocket, Durrell treks from sight to sight, dizzy with history and culture, and finds haunting echoes of his past lives in Rhodes, Cyprus, and Corfu.<BR />  <BR /> &ldquo;Elegant . . . wonderful.&rdquo; &mdash;<I>Time</I><BR />  <BR /><I>Bitter Lemons of Cyprus</I>: Against the backdrop of the push for independence on Cyprus in the early 1950s, the poet, novelist, and former British government official buys a house, secures a job, and settles in, yearning for a return to the island lifestyle of his youth. Winner of the Duff Cooper Prize, this memoir is an elegant picture of island life in a changing world.<BR />  <BR /> &ldquo;Brilliant depth of language . . . gathering slowly from the lighter delightful pages to its lost and questioning end. Never for a moment does [Durrell] lose the poet&rsquo;s touch.&rdquo; &mdash;<I>The New York Times</I></div>

Lawrence Durrell's Notes on Travel Volume One

<div><B>Rare and previously unpublished essays and letters showcasing “Durrell’s wit, elegance, philosophy, joie de vivre and flaming intelligence” (<I>The Irish Times</I>).</B><br/><br/><I>“The proverb says that whoever sees the world from the back of an elephant learns the secrets of the jungle and becomes a seer. I had to be content to become a poet.” </I>?Lawrence Durrell<br/><br/>Best known for his novels and travel writing, Lawrence Durrell defied easy classification within twentieth-century Modernism. His anti-authoritarian tendencies put him at odds with many contemporaries?aesthetically and politically. However, thanks to a compelling recontextualization by editor James Gifford, these thirty-eight previously unpublished and out-of-print essays and letters reveal that Durrell’s maturation as an artist was rich, complex, and subtle. Durrell fans will treasure this selection of rare nonfiction, while scholars of Durrell, Modernist literature, anti-authoritarian artists, and the Personalist movement will also appreciate Gifford’s fine editorial work.<br/><br/>“Gifford's scholarly command of the archives shows?especially his working intimacy with the unpublished archived words of Durrell’s editors, publishers, and collaborators. I have no doubt that this collection will serve as a starting point for any number of new critical ventures into the life and writing of Lawrence Durrell.” ?Charles Sligh, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga</div>

Lawrence Durrell
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Books By Lawrence Durrell (33 Books)