Like a tramp, a pilgrim or a wandering scholar, an 18 year-old boy set out one wet December day in 1933 to walk to Constantinople. In that year, when Hitler came to power, adventure beckoned and youth was golden for Patrick Leigh Fermor as he tramped up the Rhine and down the Danube towards the mysterious gateway to the East – sleeping barns, or in fairy tale castles, losing his possessions and being showered with gifts. But there was more to discover than freedom and the camaraderie of the road:  the arts, landscapes, religions, languages, histories and above all, the people of a dozen civilisations unfolded before his hungry young mind – sharply outlined before the gathering storm. This volume covers his journey from the Hook of Holland to the Middle Danube.