First edition, 1st printing. 1956. Book is in good shape with light wear to cover and DJ. The book is ex library. Some pages with soiling. A few pages with stains. No markings to text. Ships in a box.
THE ETRUSCAN
A Magnificent New Novel of an Ancient Land By Mika Waltari Author of The Egyptian
In the mysterious Etruscans who dominated the Italian Peninsula over 2500 years ago when the glory that was Greece had not yet given way to the grandeur that would be Rome, Mika Waltari has found a civilization and a people as worthy of his talents as the Egyptians of his famed novel which thrilled millions of readers around the world.
The result is another magnificently full-bodied recreation of an era untapped by fiction.
Turms, the hero of this novel, is a true son of his race, powerful in battle, gifted in the arts and profoundly religious. His adventures in piracy and love and war provide the rich fabric for a story that is sweepingly panoramic. For The Etruscan encompasses the known world during one of the decisive epochs of history-the days five hundred years before Christ when Greek only paused from fighting Greek long enough to beat off the assaults of the mighty Persian armies, while in the West the Romans prepared to begin their work of destruction.
As Turms' breath-taking story unfolds, the reader will view a host of characters and scores of the wonders of the ancient world. Events of intrigue and murder, war and religious strife, love and passion vie for attention in rapid succession. But always in the foreground is Turms himself as he follows his life's thread toward the land of his birth and his destiny, gradually becoming aware of the spark of immortality burning deep within him. On laying down this, his story, the reader will cherish his meeting with one of the truly unique heroes of modern fiction.
There is sweep, grandeur and power in The Etruscan, but there is also compassion, tenderness, and understanding. It is a novel which will long stand as an astonishing triumph of a great creative imagination. Translated by Lily Leino.