Hi,
I'm booking a trip to these islands, mainly Crete which will be a self-guided walking tour in Juy (yes hot). Any suggestions for good novels/historical fiction based here worth reading before I go?
Thanks

Maybe George Psychoundakis's The Cretan Runner.

You asked for novels or historical fiction. I'm not aware of any for Santorini. For Crete, the two obvious choices are:

- Mary Renault's The King Must Die (the legendary ancient historical novelist's take on the legend of Theseus, Ariadne, and Minos)
- Nikos Kazantzakis's Zorba the Greek

FWIW, Crete is a place where non-fiction comes to my mind more easily than fiction. So just in case:

- H.L. Mellersh, Minoan Crete (if you can find it)
- W. Stanley Moss, Ill Met by Moonlight (a memoir of a British commando operation in World War II that kidnapped the commanding general of the German garrison on Crete)
- Anthony Beevor, Crete 1941: The Battle and the Resistance (about the costly German airborne assault in May 1941 and its aftermath)
- Nikos Kazantzakis, Report to Greco (the autobiography of the Nobel Prize in Literature winner; he was born and grew to young manhood there)
- Barry Unsworth, Crete (an appreciation of the island by a medieval historical novelist and mystery writer who also does travel books)

And in the area of guidebooks:

- The Blue Guide: Crete (essential if you care about archaeology)
- John Freely, Crete (a well-written combination of guide and travelogue, which will help fill you in on the vast sweep of Cretan history between the Minoans and the modern era; he loves hiking and beaches as well as history and devotes a fair amount of attention to those pursuits; just recognize that it isn't the kind of travel guide that's packed with color photos and hotel and restaurant recommendations)

On Santorini, look for Charles Pellegrino's Unearthing Atlantis, a beautifully written exploration/meditation about the Minoan settlement on Santorini and its volcanology (especially the Big Bang of somewhere around the 15th century B.C. that created the island in its modern form).

Movies would include the film adaptations of both Zorba the Greek and Ill Met by Moonlight.

Oh wow, thanks so much! I'd better get reading. And watching!

HI, when I was in Santorini I read "Atlantis never lost", I cannot remember the author but I really like it... Made me look at Santorini in a whole new way.

BTW, I believe the book I recommended upthread -- The Cretan Runner -- is nonfiction. Sorry I wasn't paying attention! Still, it might be worth considering -- it doesn't read like a history book, IMO.

THe Cretan RUnner would be a truer depiction of the brave native Cretan resistance to the Nazis than Ill Met by Moonlight .... the latter focusses on Brits hiding in the mountains, who hatched the plan to kidnap the German General in charge of Crete. It was an hairbrained college-boy "prank" that got the Brits praised, did nothing to hinder the German occupation and resulted in horrrendous German retaliation against Cretans ... execution of entire male population of several villages, the burning-down of other village, massacres of women/children by burning places where they were hiding. Of course, books written by british downplayed this aspect.

Hi,
Thanks folks. My local library doesn't have The Cretan Runner however travelerjan you have given me a kick to get searching for a copy, maybe online, it certainly looks interesting focusing on how the local people responded - and real life non fiction such as this is of course most worthy, not sure why I chipped that novel/fiction thing in!
On Santorini I will be staying at Akrotiri, so am currently embarking on a whole new learning curve about the Bronze Age, Plato, and Atlantis, and more. Have chosen Akrotiri to get away from the apparent mass tourism in other parts of Santorini, though will go exploring further afield during my 3 day stay. Any tips?

That's why I recommended The Cretan Runner! I have it on kindle, if that helps.

Akrotiri is, IMO, fascinating! If that site is of interest, do try to make time for the Museum of Prehistoric Thira in Fira. It's small, but holds an extraordinary selection of artifacts and murals from Akrotiri. And if you make it to Athens, the National Archaeological Museum also holds some awesome artifacts from Akrotiri.

I don't think you've told us your itinerary, other than Crete and Santorini, but you might also find the contrasts and similarities of Akrotiri to other ancient cultures -- those of Crete and Mycenae, for example, of interest. While on Crete, I would encourage you to consider not just Knossos and Phaistos, but also the excellent museum in Heraklion.

Have you seen my trip report? if not, you might find some useful information in it:
With Gratitude for a Glorious Solo Month in Greece

Hi kja, I'm going to download The Cretan Runner onto my Kindle. My 'itinerary' as such, involves a 9 day self-guided walking tour of Western Crete, starting from Pelaichora, organised by a New Zealand company called A Walkers World. Slow travel! Before and after this walk I'll have a half day in Chania and a half day in Heraklion. Then I catch the ferry to Santorini and stay in Akrotiri for 3 nights - and there endeth my Greek Odyssey as I fly off to Chamonix via Zurich to walk the Tour Mt Blanc. Any tips you have - apart from visiting the museum in Heraklion, from reading your Greece trip notes, will be welcome.

Your trip sounds delightful!

Chania is beautiful. Its archeological museum is small -- even a leisurely visit is likely to take no more than an hour -- and might be of interest to you.

The archeological museum in Heraklion is larger -- you might want to give it at least 2 hours.

If you have any questions based on my trip report, feel free to post them here or on that thread.

Enjoy!

As for Santorini, I would add the following:

(1) the ruins of the Ptolemaic (Hellenistic era) ruins of Thera, which sit on top of a huge rock on the east side of the island overlooking one of its black sand beaches;
(2) go swimming in the caldera, near the small island, and experience the remarkable contrasts of heated and cold water in the space of a short distance;
(3) watching the sunset from Oia is so classic that you can't miss it, although I'm sure it's mass tourism at its worst these days, especially in July;
(4) check and see if there's still a small winery on Santorini -- we set up a fun little tour of it when we were there.

If you're staying at Akrotiri, then Pellegrino's Unearthing Atlantis should definitely be added to your reading list.

In Crete, we loved Chania, where we stayed at the Casa Delfino. We recommend the beaches at Elafonisos on the southwestern end of the island and at Preveli on the island's south coast, where the Megapotamos River exits from a gorge lined with palm trees to run into the sea:

(though it won't be this peaceful in July, I'm afraid).

Also, here's Kato (old) Moni Preveli nearby:

.

I second kja's recommendation of the Museum of Prehistoric Thira in addition to Akrotiri. It's very easy to take the bus from Akrotiri to Fira and from Fira to Oia. In Akrotiri, it stops right across the street from the entrance to the ruins.

Definitely read The Island by Victoria His lop - it's about Spinalonga, a leper colony just off the coast of Crete that you can visit by boat.

Thanks everyone. Now have a host of books out from my library and The Cretan Runner is on order from Book Depository. Now thanks to Lynn I can look for The Island!
And yes, will be heading to Elafonisis Beach my first full day in Crete, and plan to visit those places on Santorini thanks Jeffergray and Susan - will see how it goes re the sunset from Oia. Quite happy to not get to entangled with the tourism masses. I've seen many spectacular sunsets, what makes this one so special I wonder?

The OIA sunset is "special" only due to its endless promotion by tour brochures and Travel Channel TV programs ... and if you want to see what the crowds are like, thousands cramming the rim path from May to september -- here are some photos of the actual situation: santorini crowds - Google Search

Just looked at the pics of those crowds. We'll be in Santorini in Sept. Thankfully we have a lovely hotel with a private balcony to sit and watch the sunset. No craziness.

Ha ha thanks Travelerjan - I couldn't avoid the travel in busy July, and glad I'm booked to stay at Akrotiri.

For future travelers to Crete, I bought "The Cretan Runner' in a bookstore in Chania. The author was a shepherd who was a runner for the British behind the lines.

It was Happytrvlr who recommend this book to me when I was planning my time in the area. Well done, HappyTrvlr!