'A stylish and beautifully written elegy to a lost civilisation.The Crossing Place is about loss and exile, and its pages are full of displaced communities and tenaciously maintained traditions, strange discoveries and odd conversations, all illuminated with brilliant flashes of esoteric learning' William Dalrymple, Spectator 'Marsden's fine and unostentatious travel writing is criss-crossed with traces of politics and cultural history. This is a beautifully written book, with enough incident and observation to convey the unpredictabilities of real travel' Noel Malcolm, Sunday Telegraph 'A terrific travel book' Nicholas Lezard, Guardian 'A wonderful journey recounted with knowledge, humour and a beautiful, elegiac sadness' Observer 'An extraordinary travel narrative . As a history of the Armenian spirit in the twentieth century, this is possibly the most important book in decades' TLS 'He has gone into a world that remains closed to most outsiders and brought back wonderful pictures' Independent 'The way Marsden uncovers the traditions and secrets of these people from right under Europe's nose is enthralling' Sunday Times that remains closed to most outsiders and brought back wonderful pictures' Independent 'The way Marsden uncovers the traditions and secrets of these people from right under Europe's nose is enthralling' Sunday Times that remains closed to most outsiders and brought back wonderful pictures' Independent 'The way Marsden uncovers the traditions and secrets of these people from right under Europe's nose is enthralling' Sunday Times that remains closed to most outsiders and brought back wonderful pictures' Independent 'The way Marsden uncovers the traditions and secrets of these people from right under Europe's nose is enthralling' Sunday Times.