From a master of modernist literature, Thanassis Valtinos, this volume collects two ground-breaking novellas that altered the trajectory of Greek fiction, together with two autobiographical short stories. Here Valtinos maps the fates of his native Peloponnesian villagers through odysseys of departure and historical upheaval. Set in the early twentieth century, "The Book of Andreas Kordopatis" records the repeated attempts of the narrator to emigrate to America. Wrought from a first-hand account, it offers a revelatory view of the struggles of the undocumented in that era. "The Descent of the Nine" is a civil war drama that details the attrition of nine Communist rebels trapped in government-controlled territory. In Addiction to Nicotine the onset of adolescence interfuses with the last stages of the leftist grip on the countryside. Aistratigos offers the keenly sketched portrait of a veteran, whose privation, in war and affection, has led to an almost mystical reclusiveness.