"Durell knew that these wild Albanian hill folk had never been subdued by any of their conquerers. Throughout three centuries of Turkish occupation, they fought stubbonrnly and with some success against the invaders. The romantic ruins of Kruya and Elbasan testified to strongholds built against the Sultans of Constantinople; it was in the fifteenth century that Albania acquired its national hero in Skanderbeg. A master of guerilla tactics, Skanderberg almost succeeded in throwing off the yoke of the Ottoman Empire, striking from his eagle's nests in the wild mountains. His fortresses were still national shrines, and his name and costume were still revered as symbols of Albanian difiance of tyranny."

1960.