Black Lamb and Grey Falcon - by Rebecca West (Paperback)

About the Book

Written on the brink of World War II, West's classic examination of the history, people, and politics of Yugoslavia is a magnificent blend of travel journal, cultural commentary, and historical insight.

Book Synopsis

"Rebecca West's magnum opus . . . one of the great books of our time." --The New Yorker

Written on the brink of World War II, Rebecca West's classic examination of the history, people, and politics of Yugoslavia illuminates a region that is still a focus of international concern. A magnificent blend of travel journal, cultural commentary, and historical insight, Black Lamb and Grey Falcon probes the troubled history of the Balkans and the uneasy relationships among its ethnic groups. The landscape and the people of Yugoslavia are brilliantly observed as West untangles the tensions that rule the country's history as well as its daily life.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Review Quotes

"A masterpiece . . . as astonishing in its range, in the subtlety and power of its judgment, as it is brilliant in expression." --The Times (London)

"Surely one of the great books of our century." --Diana Trilling

"Everyone should read . . . Rebecca West's Black Lamb and Grey Falcon. If you're looking to take a really large, totally insane travelogue about the complexities of Balkan Eastern European history with you to a world where your cell phone won't disturb you and Twitter won't bother you, you really can't do better than this book. . . . It's . . . a great example of an individual talent going to a particular place and yielding just a really, really, really fascinating document." --Ross Douthat, The New York Times's Matter of Opinion podcast ("33 Reading Recommendations for Your Summer Vacation")

About the Author

Rebecca West (1892-1983) was a novelist, biographer, journalist, and critic. She published eight novels in addition to her masterpiece Black Lamb and Grey Falcon, for which she made several trips to the Balkans. Following World War II, she also published two books on the relation of the individual to the state, called The Meaning of Treason and A Train of Powder.

Christopher Hitchens (introducer; 1949-2011) was the author of more than twenty books and pamphlets, including the #1 New York Times bestseller God Is Not Great, which was a finalist for the National Book Award; the bestselling memoir Hitch-22, which was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award; and the essay collection Arguably, which was one of The New York Times Book Review's 10 Best Books of 2011. He was named by Foreign Policy and Britain's Prospect one of the world's "Top 100 Public Intellectuals."