An Island in Greece

'I loved the Greece I knew... the kind of free life that could be had with a boat among the islands.'
Scattered in a crescent in the sparkling waters of the Aegean, the islands of the Sporades are known to Greek fishermen as 'the gates of the wind'. It was to this unspoilt archipelago that Michael Carroll sailed Astarte, a boat of sleek mahogany with wine-red sails, named after the Phoenician goddess of the moon and the sea.
But his dream of travelling where the wind took him, rootless and free, changed when he landed on Skopelos. There, a chance meeting with the charismatic Vangeli led to him buying a piece of land on a remote cove, once the site of an ancient city and the perfect harbour for Astarte. So unfolds the story of Carroll's growing attachment to Skopelos as he sets down roots and makes it his home.
Engaging and vividly described, An Island in Greece is a sun-drenched tale of a life full of simple pleasures, governed by the seasons, the tides and the wind; the story of a traveller who finally arrived and a unique homage to the island that harboured him.

Michael Carroll was born in England in 1935. He was educated at Harrow and Cambridge but spent much of his early life in India. He is the author of From a Persian Tea House, an account of his travels in Iran (Tauris Parke Paperbacks).

Preface
1 North to the Sporades
2 Skiathos
3 Skopelos: Vangeli's Island
4 Kosta and Paraskevoula
5 Panormos: Saints and Treasure
6 Skyros: A Poet's Grave
7 Granddaughters of Lycurgos: A Berth for Astarte
8 Landowner at Last
9 Earth Tremors and Island Rivalry
10 Goat-Hunt to Iura
11 Tourist Salad Days
12 Eremonisia
13 A Balcony Over the Sea
14 Elections for Mayor: Vangeli Stands
15 Harbour of Silence