{"product_id":"balkan-trilogy","title":"Balkan Trilogy","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e''Her gallery of personages is huge, her scene painting superb, her pathos controlled, her humour quiet and civilised'' Anthony Burgess\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e''So glittering is the overall parade - and so entertaining the surface - that the trilogy remains excitingly vivid; it amuses, it diverts and it informs, and to do these things so elegantly is no small achievement''\u003ci\u003e Sunday Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e''A fantastically tart and readable account of life in eastern Europe at the start of the war'' Sarah Waters\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Balkan Trilogy\u003c\/i\u003e is the story of a marriage and of a war, a vast, teeming, and complex masterpiece in which Olivia Manning brings the uncertainty and adventure of civilian existence under political and military siege to vibrant life.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAt the heart of the trilogy are newly-weds Guy and Harriet Pringle, who arrive in Bucharest - the so-called Paris of the East - in the autumn of 1939, just weeks after the German invasion of Poland. Guy''s lecturing job awaits, alongside friends and the ever-ardent Sophie - but for Harriet, alone and naive, it''s a strange new life. Other surprises follow: Romania joins the Axis, and before long German soldiers overrun the capital. The Pringles flee south to Greece, part of a group of refugees made up of White Russians, journalists, con artists, and dignitaries. In Athens, however, the couple will face a new challenge of their own...\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"MediaPlace","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57307017216382,"sku":"NW9781786091567","price":15.19,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1379\/1261\/files\/9781786091567.jpg?v=1778263685","url":"https:\/\/mediaplace.com\/products\/balkan-trilogy","provider":"MediaPlace","version":"1.0","type":"link"}