The Gypsies

The Gypsies tells the story of the author who, at the age of twelve, ran away from his privileged, cultured Belgium family and home to join a wandering band, a kumpania, of Gypsies. For ten years he lived as one of them, traveled with them from country to country, shared both their pleasures and their hardships, and came to know them as no outsider ever has. Yoors’ first-hand and highly personal account of an extraordinary people is a real story about the Gypsies’ fascinating culture and their never-ending struggle to survive as free nomads. The Waveland Press reprint contains twenty-one full-page photographs taken by Jan Yoors in the 1930s, 1960s, and 1970s. “In a rare publishing event, Jan Yoors’ 'The Gypsies’ became an instant classic upon its original publication. We are now indebted to Waveland Press for making this extraordinary work available again and for adding to it a stunning section of photographs taken by Yoors during his travels with European Gypsies. The opening sentence of the book, 'I want to evoke a mood … of the simple dignity of the Rom.’ is not only accomplished, but lingers in memory. In short. The Gypsies stands as testimony to the fact that fine scholarship and lyrical writing are not antithetical.” —Bertha Quintana, Montclair State College “To convey the essence and spirit of a people is a rare skill in anthropology. I chose this book because I think we owe it (o our undergraduate students to convey an understanding of the other that transcends stereotypes and analytical flatness. Yoors describes the culture and complexities of the Rom in a clear and fascinating manner.” —Barbara Garrity-Blake, Carteret Community College