bury me standing the gypsies and their journey

With the coming of the Seljuk Turks and the Ottoman Empire, many more moved north across Bosporus into Europe to wander among the peoples of the Balkans and even further north and west. Then onto the Anatolian steppes, the land now called Turkey but once part of the vast Greek-speaking Byzantine Empire. First, out of India into the Caucasus and Armenia-the mountainous lands between the Black and Caspian Seas. Whether as handy scapegoats or figments of the romantic imagination, the Gypsies have always been with us-but never before have they been brought so vividly to life.įor a thousand years the Gypsies wandered. She traces their exodus out of India 1,000 years ago and their astonishing history of persecution: enslaved by the princes of medieval Romania massacred by the Nazis forcibly assimilated by the communist regimes evicted from their settlements in Eastern Europe, and most recently, in Western Europe as well. In Bury Me Standing, alongside unforgettable portraits of individuals-the poet, the politician, the child prostitute-Fonseca offers sharp insights into the humor, language, wisdom, and taboos of the Roma. Their culture remains largely obscure, but in Isabel Fonseca they have found an eloquent witness. A masterful work of personal reportage, this volume is also a vibrant portrait of a mysterious people and an essential document of a disappearing culture.įabled, feared, romanticized, and reviled, the Gypsies-or Roma-are among the least understood people on earth.

Bury me standing the gypsies and their journey