The Bandit on the Billiard Table. A Journey through Sardinia - Alan Ross

''To describe Alan Ross as a polymath does scant justice to the eclecticism of an extraordinary man . . . Ross was a war hero, poet, bon viveur, travel writer, incorrigible gossip, racehorse owner and brilliant magazine editor.'' Richard Whitehead, Observer

First published in 1954 as South to Sardinia, this account of a summer journey in the early 1950s sees Alan Ross alternating the past and present of a strange island whose interior, especially, had been only rarely visited at that point. His descriptions of the landscape and local customs and mores (including billiards, ''one of the great Sardinian occupations'') are interspersed with tales of a cast of characters who might have come out of Boccaccio, adding up to a memorable evocation.

''An alert and sensitive travel book... Alan Ross has an exceptional descriptive gift.'' Listener

''So closely packed with good writing that it requires to be read slowly, as Mr Ross travelled.'' Time and Tide

''He is a specialist in the vin triste... a delightful offbeat.'' Cyril Connolly, Sunday Times

''An exceptionally good book by any standard.'' TLS

''A work of art and imagination.'' Times