"Cooper has assiduously gathered material from everyone involved, and the details and perspectives are tantalizingly fresh."
The Times
"I inhaled every blissful word…A sad, revelatory, brilliantly-written account of one remarkable woman’s life"
Rachel Johnson, The Daily Mail
"His editors, Colin Thubron and Artemis Cooper, have edited this book with skill and sensitivity. Friends and fans… devotees and disciples can all rest easy. It was worth the wait."
William Dalrymple, The Guardian
"Ranges over matters requiring the gifts of the military historian, the political commentator, the social columnist and the convivial raconteur…no one could have done a better job."
Xan Fielding, The Spectator
"Artemis Cooper’s funny, wise, learned but totally candid biography reveals Leigh Fermor to be an adventurer through and through."
Barnaby Rogerson, Independent
"Words of Mercury contains enough unfamiliar material to satisfy old hands, and it will remind the forgetful and unconverted of just what a good writer he is…It could hardly be better."
Jeremy Lewis, Literary Review
"In this wonderful and creative book, Cooper has brought David to life ... she not only writes like an angel, but has done her research with great skill and obvious enjoyment."
Derek Cooper, Sunday Times
"Covers all aspects of life – diplomacy, strategy, rationing, politics, blitzkrieg and Ritzkrieg… I grew up in Paris in those years: that was the way it was."
Olivier Todd, Sunday Times