The Cretan Runner: His story of the German Occupation

"George Psychoundakis was a twenty-one-year-old shepherd from the village of Asi Gonia when the battle of Crete began: "It was in May 1941 that, all of a sudden, high in the sky, we heard the drone of many aeroplanes growing steadily closer." The German parachutists soon outnumbered the British troops who were forced first to retreat, then to evacuate, and Crete fell to the Germans. So began the Cretan resistance and the young shepherd's career as a war-time runner. In this unique account of Resistance life, Psychoundakis records the daily life of his fellow-Cretans, his treacherous journeys on foot from the eastern White Mountains to the western slopes of Mount Ida to transmit messages and transport goods, and his enduring friendships with British officers (like his eventual translator Patrick Leigh Fermor) whose missions he helped to carry out with unflagging courage, energy, and good humor"--… (more)

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LibraryThing member overthemoon

A wonderful book; it is informative, entertaining, moving, funny, tragic, just perfect. It tells the life of a Greek shepherd who served as runner to British troops in Crete during WWII and is a fine companion to W Stanley Moss's Ill-met by Moonlight. It also gives great insight into the Cretan

character. GP is an exceptional person, I was sorry to see that he died in 2006, and even more sorry that I did not know about him when I visited Crete as I was in his part of the world and would have made an effort to see at least his village. I much enjoyed his account of his visit to Jerusalem, one of the most moving travelogues I have ever read. He also brought to mind memories of my dad who served in Egypt and stayed near the pyramids, and wonder if their paths ever crossed. will never know.
At the end of the book is a letter by Patrick Leigh Fermor to a Greek academic praising George's translation of the Odyssey (including long passages on the merits of translations), I wonder if it was ever published.
I should mention, too, that there is a comprehensive index at the back of the book, and map endpapers, which were useful but it was not always easy to find the villages mentioned.

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