Cypria

Think of a place where can you 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 internal conflict; where the ancient olive trees of Homer’s time exist alongside the undersea cables which provide 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 and historical portrait and history of the island of Cyprus, from ancient times 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, mosques and the eerie towns 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 the same sensitive, witty and beautifully rendered prose as his last book Dostoevsky in Love, 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.

First published by Bloomsbury in May 2024

In poetic prose, Cypria tells a wide-ranging national story, from Aphrodite emerging from the sea at Paphos to the worst of Brits abroad in Ayia Napa, and from the lost prequel to Homer’s Iliad to halloumi. 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, New Statesman

From ancient myth to modern militarism, a brilliant exploration of Cyprus’s long history…  In this superbly composed book, Cyprus’s tastes and the smells are always intensely present, as are the island’s innumerable and majestic cats. – Steven Poole, Guardian

Alex Christofi’s Cypria is 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. – Jason Goodwin, Literary Review

Alex Christofi’s engaging, vigorous and at times passionate account of the island’s troubled history amply reveals how it has served as the crossroads of the eastern Mediterranean... Christofi tells a shocking story of murders, massacres and conspiracies… rich in curious information. – David Abulafia, Times Literary Supplement

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. – Marc David Baer, author of The Ottomans

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. – Sophy Roberts, author of Lost Pianos of Siberia

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. – Anthony Anaxagorou, author of After the Formalities

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. – James Barr, author of Lords of the Desert