A true diamond of a novel, glinting with comedy and tragedy

A tall tale and a serious work of literature…its reputation suggests that one “should” read it, and so far I would have to agree

Stunning... A high-spirited historical romance...remarkable.

An emotional, funny, stunning novel which swings with wide smoothnes s between joy and bleakness, personal lives and history...it's lyrical and angry, satirical and earnest

A wonderful epic novel...it has made him a name to conjure with. Both on the large and the small scale it is an absorbing and memorable book...the sweep, invention and warmth of the novel carries one effortlessly along

Hypnotic...a vast tapestry woven in tiny, colourful, intricate detail...a graphic and moving commentary on the futility of war. This magical book stayed in my head long after I had finished it

Captain Corelli's Mandolin achieves that rare feat of saying something new about war...fusing with remarkable felicity the cosmic and the tragic, the lyrical and the epic... And without offering easy answers, it poses difficult questions about love and suspicion, trust and betrayal, faith and despair, creativity and destruction

Louis de Bernières is in the direct line that runs through Dickens and Evelyn Waugh...he has only to look into his world, one senses, for it to rush into reality, colours and touch and taste

A master of haunted realism. His best novel yet. He deals with death and love and tragedy... This is a novel to be prized

Captain Corelli's Mandolin is a wonderful, hypnotic novel of fabulous scope and tremendous, iridescent charm - and you can quote me

An enthralling tale of endurance and passion, full of emotional intelligence