Cypria: A Journey to the Heart of the Mediterranean

by Alex Christofi

An evocative and lyrical history of Cyprus and the Mediterranean.

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.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Travel, Historical, Audiobook

352 pages, Hardcover

First published May 9, 2024

About the author

ALEX CHRISTOFI is Editorial Director at Transworld Publishers and author of books published in twelve languages, including the novels Let Us Be True and Glass, winner of the Betty Trask Prize for fiction. He has written for numerous publications including the Guardian, the London Magazine, The White Review and the Brixton Review of Books, and contributed an essay to the anthology What Doesn't Kill You: Fifteen Stories of Survival. Dostoevsky in Love, his first work of non-fiction, was selected as a Times and Sunday Times literary non-fiction book of the year and shortlisted for the Slightly Foxed Best First Biography Prize. His latest book is CYPRIA: A journey to the heart of the Mediterranean (Bloomsbury, 2024).

@alex_christofi

Reviews

[Matt McCormick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Christofi is often a beautiful writer. λόγους καλούς γράφει ἐν τῷ βιβλίῳ. This is a sad story in many ways. The reader takes away the writers belief that if left alone by colonizers and land grabbers, the people of the island would live in relative harmony, respecting each others backgrounds and faiths. Like most bad decisions those made on Cyprus were short-sighted and self-serving. The were made by nations and fanatics. The emergence and apex of Ayia Napa as a pre Covid plague pseudo-Vegas is a grotesque topping-off.

I would like to quote just a few of lines that stick with me, "Life begins at meeting points, and as soon as it lives it has something to lose. It must risk either change or isolation. We forget walls were one of life's first inventions, life as an island. And yet, inside our cell, it is too easy to mistake the final purpose of life as discriminating between self and other, too easy to obsess over the other to shore up the self. ( It makes me think of C.P. Cavafy's poem 'Waiting for the Barbarians': 'And now what will become of us without barbarians / Those people were a solution of a sort.').

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading Cypria felt a lot like taking a class with the best college professors I had the pleasure of learning from: Very demanding and richly rewarding and entertaining.

I’ll start by saying that this book is just gorgeously written as a piece of narrative nonfiction, and I loved the way Christofi organized the information. His writing is both lyrical and subtly hilarious at times, and packed with the kind of anecdotal supportive information that creates a truly all-encompassing history of a place and its people.

Like any complete work on a specific place, this begins with history and ends with politics, and I enjoyed the former far more than the latter, though I’ll credit Christofi with doing such a good job on this from start to finish that I found myself riveted by the type of recent political history that I generally don’t take much active interest in beyond the obligation to be relatively well-informed.

If I had a minor gripe about this book it was that I really didn’t need so many graphic and highly specific descriptions of torture, but this is a minor complaint about a book that was wholly successful in what it set out to do and deeply rewarding in its reader experience.

*I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.*

[Bjorn Bakker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderfully written and personal history of Cyprus, a beautiful island with an equally amazing and tragic history.

[Colin Thomson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Large swathes of this book are extraordinary. Alex Christofi writes in an eloquent yet conversational way, with references aplenty. This is clearly incredibly well researched, which is admirable given that it could have been written in a more casual way by leaning on just his experiences on the island.
However, there in lies the weirdness of this book. Thoroughly researched, yet not quite history, often choosing the myth over fact. The pages on Lazarus were jarring to say the least.
The order of the book is a bold choice that I feel didn't pay off. And you could read all the non personal sections and easily come to the conclusion that the author is of Greek Cypriot origin, and is a man. The Turkish Cypriot story is still represented, but there's a... Idk. I wouldn't go as far to call it bias, but an almost-bias. There's something there. And re the man conclusion, yea, there's just not many women in the history of Cyprus it seems?
In spite of these issues, it's still incredibly readable and it's worst crime is a mild one to all but me; it made me realise that my parents had gotten me the kit of the island's right wing team. I am unironically stressed about wearing that top now, lest I offend a Cypriot, or arguably even worse, embolden a bigoted one to approach me

[jimsgravitas · Rating 1 out of 5]

"It is easy to lose sight of the fact that both Muslims and Christians recognise the same God..."

No, they don't. They do not worship the same God. Allah and the God of the Bible are opposites in almost every way. This is an outright and very simple to demonstrate lie. I don't really care who the author is or what his motivation for such a moronic statement are but something like this calls into question every single thing he writes. Particularly when the book claims to be historical.

Christians worship Jesus Christ the Son of God.

Allah has no son (this is often repeated in Arabic on their monuments i.e the dome of the rock)...

Quran 23:91
Allah has not taken any son, nor has there ever been with Him any deity. [If there had been], then each deity would have taken what it created, and some of them would have [sought to] overcome others. Exalted is Allah above what they describe [concerning Him].

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this and it was an excellent companion for a trip to Cyprus. I read a few chapters a day and by the end my other half was heartily sick of my ‘interesting facts I have learned today’ over dinner.. On the whole written as a chronological history but with ‘themed’ chapters, this is not in the least bit dry but instead written in an easy, informative way. I had no idea I would end up so enthused by Cyprus’s history - but I really was. Lots of highlights but a particular one for me was the chapter dealing with the 1950s which was based around Lawrence Durrell’s Bitter Lemons of Cyprus. It confirmed some of my suspicions that his memoir was maybe not always as truthful as it could have been but at the same time vindicated him of some of my other doubts around him!

I don’t know if this would suit someone with a more in depth knowledge of the island but for a lay person looking for an entertaining but informative overview I thought this was perfect.

[Jifu]

(Note: I received an advanced reader copy of this book courtesy of NetGalley)

Up until now, my knowledge of Cyprus's past was meager, at best - and that may itself be a bit of an overstatement, if anything. So when the opportunity to read Cypria came my way, I was immediately interested. And to my very happy surprise I felt like my expectations were exceeded within just the first chapter. Not only was there so much to learn about the island's past (and present), but it was all relayed to me with a wonderful narrative and passionate flair on author Alex Christofi's part that I wish I could even get a fraction of in other nonfiction works. It's not only an excellent starting point for anyone looking to learn more about Cyprus, but overall just a great experience for all those searching for their next historical read.

[Markus · Rating 4 out of 5]

somewhere between personal love declaration, travelogue, biography and history, very readable

[Snail Guy · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5

[Logan Kedzie · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the introduction, the Author describes his struggle with writing a book on Cyprus, until he realizes the way to write the book is to write a series of perspectives about Cyprus that can composite into a book. Having recently read Wild New World, I assert that if you feel like inventing a new way to do history, don't.

The book is the history of Cyprus, the island in the eastern Mediterranean, starting from with before human habitation in pre-history and ending in the contemporary world. It is poetic. Mixing history, memoir, and travel-writing, the text dances. The Author's chops as a writer of fiction are in evidence.

The book has a tendency to print the legend, particularly about history related to but not about Cyprus. If there is some historical ambiguity, it will always take the sexiest option. It gets a bit silly when it plays "that's Cypriot" on everything from the house cat to the Ford Administration. True, though, that is one of the things that attracted me to read the book in the first place, in the sense of how often Cyprus is relevant in Ancient and Medieval Mediterranean History.

But then there is a second book within the book.

Second book is a history of the more troubled points of Cyprus' recent past, from the British annexation to the division of Cyprus. The second book is a conventional history. Notably, these chapters still have the personal anecdotes of the other chapters, but they are a brief aside as opposed to chapter theme as in the rest of the book, and most of the time feel tacked on. Notably, after the modern status quo arrives, the lyrical style and strong personality of the book returns for the closing.

The internal second book is more what you would expect from a popular history, with the exception that it is achronological. This is infuriating. The other part of the book is a little like this, but it is less disorienting when the text is dealing with generalities and trends instead of facts and dates. I think that, per the introduction, the intent is to group things more conceptually than orderly, but the results are odd.

For instance, the chapter on the post-war colony is before the chapter on what happens during the war. I think that this is meant to emphasize the divisions within Cypriot society, but putting reasoning after events British look more like foppish incompetents instead of the evil but reasoned realpolitik. There are a few things like that, where the choice creates what I think are unintended consequences.

I think that the author is trying to emphasize cultural norms and how that explains historical events. But whatever the reason, it meant a lot of page-flipping.

There is a real moral weight to this section. Colonialism and colonial projects are treated as something that happened Out There to The Other, but Cyprus (and Ireland, and Ukraine) are clear examples that the call is coming from inside the house. Cyprus is of critical import there. Cyprus does not scuttle the idea of The West, but it sure leaves some portholes open.

I also think that there is a question about how well a book written only by a Greek Cypriot can accomplish the sort of multifaceted gem approach of the Introduction. I know that the author did research there, and I would refrain from calling the book biased, but there were points where I felt that I needed more to the story, specifically in the context of the dual island cultures.

A good book, with a good topic, and an important message - an immediate and really important message, but structurally unpleasant. And like a movie, be sure to stick around for the post-credits sequence in the Acknowledgements. I teared up.

[Byron Farrow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Massively recommended for anyone wanting a brief overview of Cypriot history from ancient times to the present day. As a primer on history this is excellent. Clearly not as detailed in some areas as others, but that is not its role. It is a starter that gets you going.

However, it's true strength is not in the history - excellent although that is. It is the family history, the reflections on human nature and the beauty and quality of the writing. The humour, the perspective and the empathy that shine though.

If you are looking at visit Cyprus or learn more about this magnificent island then there is no better book to start.

[Harrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

THE USONIAN: What inspired you to write Cypria?

ALEX CHRISTOFI: I always knew I wanted to write about a book about Cyprus. For a long time, I assumed it would be a novel. I started out writing fiction, and I imagined this amazing star-crossed lovers plot set around the 1974 invasion, which would help bring general readers into understanding the complicated politics of the island. But the longer I thought about it, the less realistic it seemed. Some of the stuff I wanted to write about wouldn’t fit within the scope of a novel.

And then I read The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak [which also centers on a forbidden romance between Greek and Turkish Cypriot characters]. [At that point I realized] that [plot had] been done really well, and the idea didn’t need me anymore. It freed me to write a book that didn’t already exist—to write the whole history of the island in a single volume in the English language, and try to bring everything in, from when humans first arrived to the present day.


Read the rest of my interview with Alex Christofi on The Usonian: https://www.theusonian.com/p/cypria

[Jonathan Vincent · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good history of Cyprus, condension nearly 10,000 years of history down into 200 pages. I especially enjoyed the parts about early Christianity and Islam on the island, it was entirely new for me.

Just random notes/interesting things-
- Binational colonies are truly the most cursed political arrangement ever, just absolute powderkegs
- I hadn't realized that the reason there are so many artifacts from Cyprus in museums is that a guy got himself appointed both the American and Russian ambassadors to the island and just spend 10 years looting everything he could
- The first 30-40 years of British control were just absolutely awful. Not so much for brutality, but just for how little they cared. They casually signed a treaty that put what must have been among the world's highest tax burdens on Cyprus and just didn't really care about the consequences. Even when fairly high-ranking people (including Winston Churchill!) started bringing it up, it took nearly 30 years for things to change.
- There's a really funny thing a lot of Europeans had about the Middle East where before going they'd read Arabian Nights or something and expect it to be Just Like That (Giant palaces! Massive cities of gardens and spires!) and then they get there and realize they'd literally read a fantasy novel.
- Cyprus seems to have such an issue in its history where it's big enough that lots of larger countries/empires/kingdoms want it, but it's not really large enough to secure its own independence. Plus it's surrounded by the sea, so anyone can reach it. For a country that has one of the oldest recorded histories on earth, it's been independent for a remarkably small percentage of that time.
- The position of the Turkish Cypriots starting in the 1950s was so tragic. The majority of the island was Greek Cypriots and they largely wanted enosis- a merger with Greece, a country which at the time had just expelled tens of thousands of Turks and Muslims. By the 1970s, it was even ruled by a hardline military junta which had authorized and supported the deaths of hundreds of Turkish Cypriots. It's such a tricky question from a moral/political point of view. The majority of the island wanted enosis, but that may have (but no one could say with any certainty) lead to the expulsion of the Turkish Cypriot minority from the island, or at the very least their persecution. It may well have been that the Turkish invasion, even as it caused a humanitarian catastrophe by causing Greeks to be ethnically cleansed from the North and Turks from the South, prevented an even bigger one. But it's impossible to ever know for sure. To be honest, this is something I felt like the book should have touched more on- what did Greek Cypriots think would happen to Turkish Cypriots after enosis? Did they just assume everything would be fine? It's possible they did, since relations between the two communities on the island were quite good. I wouldn't be surprised if many just thought the Turkish Cypriot concerns were overblown and weren't open to trying to understand.

[Jon M · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am part Cypriot, but know very little about my Grandad's birthday, my wife bought me this book for my birthday - I was keen to learn more about Cypriot history, especially more recent history.

I think its fair to say I was very unwehelmed with the start of the book, I found the writing style very uncomfortable to read, and did not like how each chapter began, and to me the structure just did not work well. Although I can see I am in the minority with this view. I largely found the first 100 pages difficult to get through, and I cannot say I can recall much, as I feel anything of note was lost with the wishy washy structure.

However the second half of this book is certainly much much better, especially when looking at the period of conflict with British colonialism and the Greek-Turkish Cypriot split. Which also highlughted to me the idea that 'They Turks invaded' seemingly out of the blue, that I was always told as a chikd, was certainly not the case. So overall, in a round about way, this book did exactly what I needed, as I feel I have a much better understanding of the last 80 or so years of Cypriot history. It is just a shame that it took until the second half of the book for me to feel this way.

[James (JD) Dittes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cypria is a combination of several types of book: a travelogue, an insightful history, and a personal history as well.

Weaving these three elements together, Christofi presents a fascinating look at the island of his ancestors. He moves chronologically, from pre-history -- where there were pigmy hippos (!) -- right through until the present day. Christofi provides special attention to the issues leading up to the Turkish invasion of Cyprus and the Greek nationalists who instigated it. While Christofi is of Greek origin, he presents a fair assessment of both sides of the conflict, I felt, while keeping up a nostalgia for an undivided Cyprus that I'm sure is common on both sides of the line of control.

Each chapter begins and ends with a meditation of a monastery or historical site on Cyprus, which makes this book such a great one for those who wish to visit the island. And if a family member doesn't wish to read the history, his final chapter celebrates the food and culture of the island and is worth the price of the book alone.

I'm lucky I got to preview this book via NetGalley in exchange for this honest review.

[Isaac Solomou · Rating 5 out of 5]

Christofi’s retelling of Cyprus’ history was both poetic and moving. It at times felt more like reliving a memory than reading a history.

At other times. Christofi’s conversational style is such that, reading this book felt just like a conversation with an older and wiser relative. Save perhaps the author’s disclaimers on Cypriots’ propensity to exaggerate which otherwise would have been indulged in a conversation with a family member.

I often found myself deep in thought during this book often overwhelmed by feelings of pride, anger, despair and hope.

As the grandson of Cypriot immigrants I was looking for a book that would help me better understand the time and place my pappou came from. I stumbled upon this book almost by accident and am glad that I did. It was everything I had hoped for and more.

[Marina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautifully written, even lyrical at times, this book is a partly travelogue, partly history and partly memoir.

However, I was baffled by many of the facts it presented. Grivas was most definitely not a moderate by the time of his death (his EOKA B was in the peak of its violent action), halloumi is far from a low-fat cheese (if only!), and the percentage of the 2013 bank “haircut” although initially set at 60% — was then reduced to 47.5%. The author is confusing Kyrenia Castle with St Hilarion castle - the latter being the dwelling of Hilarion, hence the name (Kyrenia Castle is by the harbour, on flat land). Although I was glad to learn that the saying about “heroes fighting like Greeks” is incorrectly attributed to Churchill, I was disappointed that in the previous paragraph the apocryphal story of Metaxas’s “No” is perpetuated. These are a few of the inaccuracies that I identified so I suspect there are more.

Despite this, I enjoyed several of its passages, the personal vingnettes, and the fascinating meanderings down little-known paths of history that lead beyond Cyprus.

[Theo · Rating 5 out of 5]

The most enjoyable book I have read in a long time. Easy read. Very well researched. The author's writing style ("narrative non-fiction"), and book structure ("discreet chapters", 15-30min long), worked 10/10 for me. So much so, i asked AI to recommend more books similar to Cypria (resulting authors: Malcolm Gladwell and Michael Lewis and Erik Larson, which I agree are awesome and similar). I like how each chapter is notionally about one thing. But given it also flows chronologically, the author interweaves in everything else that needs to be covered from that period. Once I started a chapter, i found myself gripped until the next. I loved it so much, I have started gifting it to those people who have some connection to Cyprus.

[Danial Hume · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book opens with a heavy focus on local myth and legend, as well as the author’s personal travel experiences. Only a small portion is dedicated to the Middle Ages and Early Modern period, so if that’s what you’re hoping for, you may be disappointed. For me, the strongest section comes later: the 19th and 20th centuries, where the author shifts into a more narrative, less anecdotal style but ofcourse with some personal stories, which is welcome. The closing chapters are especially well done, leaving a strong final impression. Overall, the book improves as it goes on — uneven at first, but rewarding by the end.

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 and I’m not yet 100% sure why I’m holding back the 0.5 that would have made this a full five star read - but I did really enjoy this and found it intensely readable. I also loved the format of the personal history and almost travelogue intertwined with the “history” in a big sense. It made the episodic nature of the history work, even though I would have enjoyed a little more focus on pre-modern history (more than half the book was post-1800).

[William Chandler · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful dive into Cyprus both historical and present that I had the privilege to read whilst on this isle. Christofi balances both ancient origins and 20th geopolitics deftly, maintaining both readability and scholarly relevance at the same time. On another note, perhaps most importantly, the book is chock-full of quotable facts that I can at least attempt to dazzle my girlfriend with about her own home!

[Gio Di Stazio · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have never read a history written so like a story. Christofi provides us with a strikingly balanced account (not to say that his Greek Cypriot identity isn’t apparent at times) of the history of Cyprus, somehow managing to be a genuinely gripping page-turner as well as a valuable academic exercise. A perfect starting point on Cypriot history which manages to assume you know nothing without being remotely patronising. Truly fantastic!

[Jacob Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Christofi paints an excellent portrait of Cyprus, in broad strokes at times, yes (all the better to capture the landscape)-- and in minute detail at others (pointillisms of characters and personalities to add variety). All together, it's an excellent and at times intimate account of Cypriot history; between tragedy and triumph, the history of Cyprus makes for involving reading and Christofi does it well. 

[Nigel O'Connor · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very readable work relating the history of Cyprus from the author's perspective. Christofi weaves eloquent personal anecdotes, perspective and questions of his identity and connection to place throughout to break up the historical narrative and it largely works well. A fine starting point for anyone interested in the island's story.

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best works of non-fiction I have read in a long time. History is often dry, but Cristofi made it come alive. I read it prior to a trip to Cyprus, and while I didn’t get very far from the southwestern part of the island, having read this book greatly enhanced my experiences there.

[Zachary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I went in expecting a "travel tourism" style book, but came out having experienced a fascinating history of a country I hold dear, and told in a brilliant and interesting way.

[Phillip Pirrip · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad

[Harry B · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars.

[Kristaps · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good overview of Cyprus history and culture.

[Pat · Rating 5 out of 5]

A deeply personal and accessible history of Cyprus - a cosmopolitan island shaped by so many cultures since the Bronze Age.