The Cretan Runner

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George must have a brilliant memory for people, names and places but I must admit they did become a little blurred, not helped by an insufficient map of the island at the start of the book , The book has at once a calm of a race which takes it for granted that life is full of death, and the excitement of a fighter who wildly enjoys his own part of the dangerous business. It is full of jokes and full of pride.”— Sunday Times

The Cretan Runner by George Psychoundakis | Waterstones

The Cretan runners all performed exceptional feats and made essential contributions to the British operations during World War II. George’s efforts to deliver messages from Kastelli-Kissamos to Paleochora in the south bring to mind the 490 BC Pheidippides running 42 km from the battle of Marathon to tell about the victory over the Persians. That runner died after delivering the message. As for George, the distance he ran to avoid the Nazis over the White Mountains was twice as far. He made the trek over deep rivers and past Nazi outposts and patrols in one night.

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I found this book very enjoyable as it was written as a series of stories and anecdotes by a Cretan who acted as "runner" for the British in their attempts to free Crete from the Nazi yolk. Find sources: "George Psychoundakis"– news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR ( January 2013) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) very down-to-earth and humble retelling, with a Cretan native’s view of Cretan traditions, humour, lifestyle, and way of thinking. The Cretan runners performed exceptional feats and made essential contributions to the British operations in the Mediterranean. In 490 BC Pheidippides ran 42km from the battle of Marathon to tell about the victory over the Persians, and died just after delivering his message. In comparison, Psychoundakis ran from Kastelli-Kissamou on the northwestern coast of Crete to Paleochora on the southwestern coast in one night. The distance along the present main road is 45km. Through a rugged landscape with deep ravines, where he had to run to avoid the Germans, the distance may have been twice as far. I found the huge array of different characters to be a little confusing however this did not hamper my enjoyment of this guileless account of a courageous and extraordinary resistance fighter.

The Cretan Runner: His Story of the German Occupation The Cretan Runner: His Story of the German Occupation

There have been other memoirs of wartime Crete but those were visitors’ books. George’s story, as Leigh Fermor points out in the introduction, is unique.”—Allison Pearson If you are familiar with "Ill Met by Moonlight", it's a must read- if only to flesh out the Cretans from W.S. Moss' one dimensional portrait of them. Some of this memoir is tense and gripping, though most of it is a document of a grinding hide and seek game between the Germans and the Cretan Resistance. Likewise, reading The Cretan Runner, the volume of short tales, events, of fighting the Germans as Cretan resistance seem repetitive at times, but the reader feels guilt jumping, avoiding the narrative. The actions of these brave, resisting individuals have led to comparative freedom for much of the western world for the past seventy years – albeit high dependency and impoverishment in many developing countries, as well as within the so-called advanced economies.

Forgotten the title or the author of a book? Our BookSleuth is specially designed for you. Visit BookSleuth The Holocaust of Kedros was an operation involving 2,000 Axis soldiers who targeted Anogeia and Damasta. A total of 900 houses were burned, 50 civilians were shot and 3,500 became internally displaced. In the following days the operation expanded to other villages, men were executed, houses were looted and then burned or dynamited regardless of their involvement in resistance activities. [40] Local resistance bands could do nothing but watch, being vastly outnumbered. [41] Biographical works [ edit ] It is a strange mix of suffering, endurance, bravery, cruelty, pettiness, generosity, and good meals with plenty of wine. Shopping for someone else but not sure what to give them? Give them the gift of choice with a New York Review Books Gift Card. Gift Cards

The Cretan Runner: The Story of the German Occupation

George was a one-off, as they say. Nobody was remotely like him. Touchstone and Ariel spring to mind, and there is a dash of Kim. It was the oddity, independence, charm, curiosity, and imagination that gave him the cover-name of “Changeling” in our dispatches from Crete.” Psychoundakis, Georgio (1991) [1955], The Cretan Runner: His Story of the German Occupation, Fermor, PL transl, ISBN 0-7195-3475-5 [6] Holihouse has been honoured with the prestigious European Travel Award for Villas & Hospitality Management at the Travel & Hospitality Awards 2023.Interesting document of WWII guerilla warfare, by a participant indigenous to the occupied region (as opposed to an adviser, or member of the opposing force). The team moved to a cave system in the mountains above Kastamonitsa village, the hideout of a local resistance group. [19] The SOE team was joined by Antonios and Grigorios Papaleonidas, Michail Akoumianakis and Grigorios Chnarakis. Akoumianakis' house was located across the road from Kreipe's residence, the Villa Ariadne, in the village of Knossos. [20] Leigh Fermor disguised himself as a Cretan shepherd for his trip to Knossos. After traveling by bus with Akoumianakis, he reconnoitered the vicinity of the villa. Enclosed by a triple wire barrier (one of which was rumoured to be electrified) and guarded by a sizeable garrison, it was deemed too well-fortified for a direct assault. It was decided to seize Kreipe during one of his frequent trips from his residence to his divisional headquarters in Ano Archanes, some 5mi (8.0km) away. Surveying the route, they discovered a T-junction where the road from Archanes joined the main road to Heraklion, forcing cars to slow down to almost a standstill; the location was subsequently named Point A. The owner of a small cottage outside Skalani ( el), some twenty minutes travel time from the abduction point, agreed to collaborate, turning the building into an observation point. [21] Owing to the heavy traffic on the main road, the operation had to be undertaken at night. [22] It’s okay. If you really really want to know about the Cretan resistance in WWII, sure. But for the other 99.9 percent of you out there, you are much better off reading “Natural Born Heroes.” Beevor, Antony (2005). Crete 1941: The Battle and the Resistance. London: John Murray. ISBN 978-0-7195-6831-2. Psychoundakis’s effortlessly poetic account reflected a passionate love of his homeland and its people, a geologist’s and botanist’s eye, chortling bemusement at the habits of the upper-class British agents, and deep comradeship with his fellow resistance fighters.