Captain Corelli's Mandolin

It is 1941 and Captain Antonio Corelli, a young Italian officer, is posted to the Greek island of Cephallonia as part of the occupying forces. At first he is ostracised by the locals, but as a conscientious but far from fanatical soldier, whose main aim is to have a peaceful war, he proves in time to be civilised, humorous - and a consummate musician.When the local doctor's daughter's letters to her fiancé - a member of the underground - go unanswered, the working of the eternal triangle seems inevitable. But can this fragile love survive as a war of bestial savagery gets closer and the lines are drawn between invader and defender?

A wonderful epic novel, Louis de Bernières is the direct line that runs through Dickens and Evelyn Waugh... His novel will give pleasure to all sorts of readers, An emotional, funny, stunning novel which swings with wide smoothness between joy and bleakness, personal lives and history... It's lyrical and angry, satirical and earnest, A master of haunted realism. His best novel yet. He deals with death and love and tragedy... This is a novel to be prized, Captain Corelli's Mandolin is a wonderful, hypnotic novel of fabulous scope and tremendous, iridescent charm - and you can quote me

Louis de Bernières is the best-selling author of Captain Corelli's Mandolin. His most recent novels are Birds Without Wings and A Partisan's Daughter.