Cypria

A Journey to the Heart of Cyprus

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Cypria

By: Alex Christofi

Narrated by: Alex Christofi

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Bloomsbury presents Cypria: A Journey to the Heart of the Mediterranean, written and read by Alex Christofi

SHORTLISTED FOR THE ANGLO-HELLENIC LEAGUE RUNCIMAN AWARD 2025

"A brilliant exploration of Cyprus’s long history of cultural resilience. Superbly composed." -- Guardian

One of National Geographic's Summer Reads 2024

Think of a place where you can stand at the intersection of Christian and Arab cultures, at the crossroads of the British, Ottoman, Byzantine, Roman and Egyptian empires; a place marked by the struggle between fascism and communism and where the capital city is divided in half as a result of bloody conflict; where the ancient olive trees of Homer's time exist alongside the undersea cables which link up the world's internet.

In Cypria, named after a lost Cypriot epic which was the prequel to The Odyssey, British Cypriot writer Alex Christofi writes a deeply personal, lyrical history of the island of Cyprus, from the era of goddesses and mythical beasts to the present day.

This sprawling, evocative and poetic book begins with the legend of the cyclops and the storytelling at the heart of the Mediterranean culture. Christofi travels to salt lakes, crusader castles, mosques and the eerie town deserted at the start of the 1974 war. He retells the particularly bloody history of Cyprus during the twentieth century and considers his own identity as traveler and returner, as Odysseus was.

Written in sensitive, witty and beautifully rendered prose, with a novelist's flair and eye for detail, Cypria combines the political, cultural and geographical history of Cyprus with reflections on time, place and belonging.

Alex ChristofiAlex ChristofiBloomsbury Continuum

Ancient

Essays

Europe

Greece

Middle East

Imperialism

War

Middle Ages

Witty

Ottoman Empire

Africa

Military

Crusade

Ancient Greece

Iran

Ancient Essays Europe Greece Middle East Imperialism War Middle Ages Witty Ottoman Empire Africa Military Crusade Ancient Greece Iran

Critic reviews

Engaging, vigorous and at times passionate…Christofi offers a personal account as well as a carefully-annotated history. Rich in curious information.

From ancient myth to modern militarism, a brilliant exploration of Cyprus’s long history of cultural resilience. Superbly composed. (Steven Poole)

A remarkable book about a beautiful island that has lain in the path of every Mediterranean storm. Christofi is a witty and elegant guide to Cyprus’s history.

An engaging portrait of Cyprus’s variegated and sometimes troubled past.

In this finely crafted new history of Cyprus, Christofi tells a remarkable story of an island where Christian and Arab cultures meet at a crossroads of empires, British, Ottoman, Byzantine, Roman and Egyptian. A lyrical account of a divided place that is in a way a microcosm of the European 20th century, but with olive trees.

In poetic prose, Cypria tells a wide-ranging national story. Christofi makes a compelling case for Cyprus as a uniquely clear vantage point from which to view the birth of the modern world. (Pippa Bailey)

In this beautifully-written book, Alex Christofi tells of the contradictions that make Cyprus so fascinating, an island as ageless as its olive trees and contestations over its historical memory.

Christofi sees Cyprus from both the inside and outside, as a returnee and a traveller. The result is a modern, original book that reinvigorates writing about place in an arresting, lucid, and connected way. It puts the island back in the middle of the map, brought to life in Christofi's always beautiful, erudite prose.

Clear, erudite and wonderfully affable, Christofi’s ability to fuse his own family's relationship to Cyprus with that of its wider history, makes Cypria a necessary and illuminating read. Warm, poised and informative, Christofi’s reach is expansive, bringing Cyprus into sharper focus without jettisoning or shying away from complex and sometimes unpleasant aspects of its recent past.

This beautifully-written book is a delight from start to finish, with gems on every page. Alex Christofi is a fond yet even handed guide to Cyprus. If you have never been this book will make you want to go.

Alex Christofi’s new book offers readers a thoughtful, unexpected look at Cyprus’s history.

[Alex Christofi] brings a novelist's eye to the subject, and a turn of phrase to leave the academic historians in the dust... It's a book that has the unmistakable whiff of a quality piece of publishing and has clearly been a labour of love.

Cypria is an impressively wide-ranging history of a fascinating island, written with a grace and lightness of touch that still manages to convey much of the bitterness of Cyprus’s recent past. It is a book to be enjoyed on a hot summer’s day…but also to be pondered when darker nights draw in.

Most relevant

Learning the history of my roots and how so much of it has been shaped by non natives. absolutely fascinating and heartbreaking in equal measure