St Martin's Ride - Paul Binding

St Martin''s Ride was first published in 1990 just after the tumultuous events of the previous year that reshaped Europe. It was timely then, it is timely now.

Born in 1943, Paul Binding was taken by his parents to live in Essen, a city destroyed by British bombing during the Second World War. His experiences in that ruined city haunted him for years, until, in 1989 he joined the scenes of wild rejoicing as the Berlin Wall came down and a new era was ushered in.

Part-autobiography, part-meditation on the dilemmas of Europe, St Martin''s Ride is an utterly original and deeply moving exploration of the uncertainties that affected Europeans for nearly half a century.

''One of those rare masterpieces which portrays the peculiar truth of the world of grown-ups in the mind of a child who has been thrust into excruciating circumstances. Literary art of a very rare kind.'' Stephen Spender, Independent on Sunday

''A book as beautiful as it is profound.'' Theodore Zeldin