“In the early 1930s, when he was a 12-year-old boy in Belgium, Yoors ran away to join a traveling band of Roma—Gypsies—in horse-drawn wagons. He lived with them for eight years, all over Europe. Need I say more?” — Adam Hochschild, co-founder of Mother Jones, cited in The Week, “Adam Hochschild’s 6 favorite books”


“In a rare publishing event, The Gypsies became an instant classic upon its original publication. It stands as testimony to the fact that fine scholarship and lyrical writing are not antithetical.” — Bertha Quintana

“Fascinating. A lyrical tribute, a unique inside view.” — Newsweek

“An exciting firsthand impression of life in a Gypsy camp forever on the move. A most valuable and original contribution.” — New York Times Book Review

“Beautifully evokes a way of life in which freedom and independence still survive.” — Sir Herbert Read

“Unquestionably the only book ever written from the inside of this most mysterious and elusive group of people. Beautifully written. A treasure. I think you will find it difficult to stop reading this unique and personal love song for a way of life.” — Houston Post

“Absolutely delightful.” — Margaret Mead

“Unique. No stay-at-home can read the book without a stab of yearning. . . . Reading it is like gulping in fresh air and experiencing a vicarious release from the complications of ‘civilized’ living.” — Minneapolis Tribune

“Enchanting. There are many surprising revelations . . . but most amazing is the spell that is cast on the reader.” — Columbus Dispatch

“Exciting, fascinating . . . we not only understand but also actually envy the Romani soul, and feel as though we would gladly shed a few of our encumbrances to join them.” — Chicago’s American

“Of course any right thinking boy would dream about joining a Gypsy caravan, but Jan Yoors actually left his comfortable home and found a nomadic life as splendid as his dreams. And now he has enough of the poet in him to convey his timeless, routineless, endless fascination of wandering through a changing countryside, creeping through frontiers, part of a mysterious society.” — Christian Science Monitor