A Time of Gifts is the first volume in a trilogy recounting the trip, and takes the reader with him as far as Hungary. It is a book of compelling glimpses - not only of the events which were curdling Europe at that time, but also of its resplendent domes and monasteries, its great rivers, the sun on the Bavarian snow, the storks and frogs, the hospitable burgomasters who welcomed him, and that world's grandeurs and courtesies. His powers of recollection have astonishing sweep and verve, and the scope is majestic. First published to enormous acclaim, it confirmed Fermor's reputation as the greatest living travel writer, and has, together with its sequel Between the Woods and the Water (the third volume is famously yet to be published), been a perennial seller for 25 years.

    With a singleness of purpose as ferocious as nay hazard he encountered, Tristan Jones would not give up--even after dodging snipers on the Red Sea, capsizing off the Cape of Good Hope, starving in the Amazon, struggling for 3,000 miles against the mightiest sea current in the world, and hauling his boat over the rugged Andes three miles above sea level to find at last the legendary Island of the Sun. And beyond lay te most awesome challenge of all--the tortuous trek through 6,000 miles of uncharted rivers to find his way back to the ocean.

    So going to Holland to help an elderly Dutch doctor with a book he was writing, giving up her own nursing job for a while, seemed ideal. Her new employer had two partners. One was elderly and friendly, like himself, while the other was younger and...not quite so friendly. Giles van der Tiele always seemed to be snubbing Cressida, putting her in her place. But when he wanted to, he could be extremely charming—too much so for her peace of mind!

    To read this book is not just to learn the proper preparation for lasagna and risotto, but also to encounter the Medicis, to witness an opulent banquet for two, and to learn the fables surrounding the origin of tortellini.

    It was a seesaw.Jenny sighed. If only Toby hadn't been so complacent, believing that marrying him was the best thing that could happen to a girl.He was a nice enough man, but dull. When she'd argued with him, he hadn't contradicted her once!If only it had been the professor... but she couldn't imagine that man behaving so tamely. Besides, he didn't love her. "My dear girl," he had said, "you flatter yourself and me, too--I have no interest in you at all!"

    As make-believe tourists, off she and Patsy travel to describe the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grant's Tomb, Fraunces Tavern, some of New York's very special small museums, Orchard Street, a tour of Harlem, and much more. Hanff weaves in historical events and tidbits on some of New York's most notorious personalities.