Bury Me Standing

Oct 7, 2024 4:15 AM

Author:Isabel Fonseca

Bury Me Standing

Gypsies have always intrigued and fascinated - partly because of their mysterious origins, and partly because of the romance of nomadism. But because they resist assimilation, having survived as a distinct people for over a thousand years, they have also been the victims of other people's nationalism and xenophobia.

In this fascinating and timely study, Fonseca focuses particularly on the gypsies in Eastern Europe (an estimated 6 million), and their future as a distinct race within a nationalist Europe. While researching the book, Fonseca learned Romany and stayed with the gypsies, becoming deeply involved with their lives, and befriending several gypsy kings.

The result is a clolourful and frank book, filled with enthusiasm and curiosity, without lapsing into piety or romanticism.

Reviews

Compassionate, amusing, sardonic and highly intelligent

—— Michael Ignatieff , Independent on Sunday

Isabel Fonseca's book is literally a revelation: a hidden world - at once ignored and secretive, persecuted and unknown - is uncovered in these absorbing pages. She writes with grace, insight and passion, and peoples her text with vibrant characters brought vividly to life. It is a magnificent achievement

—— Salman Rushdie

A grand panorama of European gypsydom, its history, its present condition and its future prospects

—— Jan Morris , Sunday Times

A passionate and dramatic defence of the defenceless... This beautifully written story speaks in a way of all who do not want to submit to he reverses of fortune, who seek their own place on earth

—— Ryszard Kapuscinski

An utterly fascinating, and even inspiring, book

—— Edward Mortimer , Financial Times

Enormously stimulating...The spell of Berlin is very much present

—— John Dunn , T.H.E.S

Berlin's style conveys an unrivalled depth of learning in prose of engaging informality. A humane light shines through every sentence

—— David Miller , Independent on Sunday

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