Michael Palin is celebrated for his dual career as a pioneering absurdist comedian and a captivating travel documentarian. Initially rising to fame as a key member of the iconic comedy troupe, he co-wrote and performed in some of the most memorable satirical sketches. Transitioning to a profound exploration of the world, Palin has since embarked on extensive journeys, documenting his experiences with a unique blend of intellectual curiosity and affable humor. His written accounts and televised series offer readers and viewers an intimate glimpse into diverse cultures and landscapes, marked by insightful observation and a genuine appreciation for the human element.
In this fourth volume of Michael Palin's acclaimed diaries, readers are invited into the intimate and humorous reflections of the author's life during a pivotal period. The entries capture his experiences as a celebrated actor and traveler, blending personal anecdotes with insights into his creative processes. With a keen eye for detail and a knack for storytelling, Palin shares his adventures, challenges, and the evolution of his career, offering a rich tapestry of life behind the scenes in the entertainment industry.
In this engaging third volume of Michael Palin's diaries, readers are invited into the life of the beloved actor and writer as he reflects on his adventures and experiences. The entries capture his travels, creative pursuits, and personal insights, offering a candid glimpse into the joys and challenges he faced during this period. With humor and warmth, Palin shares anecdotes that highlight both his professional endeavors and personal relationships, making it a delightful read for fans and newcomers alike.
The diaries offer an intimate glimpse into Michael Palin's life during the 1980s, capturing his experiences while filming iconic projects like "The Meaning of Life" and "A Fish Called Wanda." Through humorous anecdotes and personal reflections, Palin shares behind-the-scenes stories, insights into his creative process, and interactions with fellow cast members. This candid account not only highlights his career but also reveals the cultural landscape of the time, making it a compelling read for fans of film and comedy.
From the time, many years ago, when Michael Palin first heard that his grandfather had a brother, Harry, who died in tragic circumstances, he was determined to find out more about him. The quest that followed involved hundreds of hours of painstaking detective work. Michael dug out every bit of family gossip and correspondence he could. He studied every relevant official document. He tracked down what remained of his great-uncle Harry's diaries and letters, and pored over photographs of First World War battle scenes to see whether Harry appeared in any of them. He walked the route Harry took on that fatal, final day of his life amid the mud of northern France. And as he did so, a life that had previously existed in the shadows was revealed to him. Great-Uncle Harry is an utterly compelling account of an ordinary man who led an extraordinary life. A blend of biography, history, travelogue and personal memoir this is Michael Palin at his very finest. ___________________________________________ PRAISE FOR EREBUS- 'Beyond terrific. I didn't want it to end.' BILL BRYSON 'Magisterial . . . Palin brings energy, wit and humanity to a story that has never ceased to tantalise people.' THE TIMES 'Everybody's talking about it . . . A brilliant book.' CHRIS EVANS 'I absolutely loved it- I had to read it at one sitting.' LORRAINE KELLY
In March 2022, former Monty Python stalwart and intrepid globetrotter Michael Palin journeyed along the River Tigris and into Iraq to gain a glimpse of life in an area of the world that can claim to be the cradle of civilisation, that has seen the rise and fall of extraordinary and rich cultures, but that over the past two decades has witnessed turmoil and appalling bloodshed. Now he shares the journal he meticulously kept during his trip, in which he describes a country where the past and the present are constantly intermixed. One minute he is exploring the ruins of Babylon, one of the world's most ancient cities. The next he is scanning the plumes of smoke rising from burn-off towers in the vast oilfields outside Basra or surveying the still war-torn landscape around Tikrit or talking to survivors of Saddam Hussein's campaign against the Marsh Arabs of southern Iraq. Peppered throughout with his trademark warmth and wry humour, and illustrated with beautiful colour photographs throughout, the journal offers a wonderful and rare insight into Iraq in all its extraordinary variety.
"Intrepid voyager, writer and comedian Michael Palin follows the trail of two expeditions made by the Royal Navy's HMS Erebus to opposite ends of the globe, reliving the voyages and investigating the ship itself, lost on the final Franklin expedition and discovered with the help of Inuit knowledge in 2014. The story of a ship begins after the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo, when Great Britain had more bomb ships than it had enemies. The solid, reinforced hulls of HMS Erebus, and another bomb ship, HMS Terror, made them suitable for discovering what lay at the coldest ends of the earth. In 1839, Erebus was chosen as the flagship of an expedition to penetrate south to explore Antarctica. Under the leadership of the charismatic James Clark Ross, she and HMS Terror sailed further south than anyone had been before. But Antarctica never captured the national imagination; what the British navy needed now was confirmation of its superiority by making the discovery, once and for all, of a route through the North-West Passage. Chosen to lead the mission was Sir John Franklin, at 59 someone many considered too old for such a hazardous journey. Nevertheless, he and his men confidently sailed away down the Thames in April 1845. Provisioned for three winters in the Arctic, Erebus and Terror and the 129 men of the Franklin expedition were seen heading west by two whalers in late July. No one ever saw them again. Over the years there were many attempts to discover what might have happened--and eventually the first bodies were discovered in shallow graves, confirming that it had been the dreadful fate of the explorers to die of hunger and scurvy as they abandoned the ships in the ice. For generations, the mystery of what had happened to the ships endured. Then, on September 9th, 2014, came the almost unbelievable news: HMS Erebus had been discovered thirty feet below the Arctic waters, by a Parks Canada exploration ship. Palin looks at the Erebus story through the different motives of the two expeditions, one scientific and successful, the other nationalistic and disastrous. He examines the past by means of the extensive historical record and travels in the present day to those places where there is still an echo of Erebus herself, from the dockyard where she was built, to Tasmania where the Antarctic voyage began and the Falkland Islands, then on to the Canadian Arctic, to get a sense of what the conditions must have been like for the starving, stumbling sailors as they abandoned their ships to the ice. And of course the story has a future. It lies ten metres down in the waters of Nunavut's Queen Maud Gulf, where many secrets wait to be revealed."-- Provided by publisher
THE BOOK BEHIND THE HIT DOCUMENTARY A glimpse of life inside the world's most secretive country, as told by Britain's best-loved travel writer. In May 2018, former Monty Python stalwart and intrepid globetrotter Michael Palin spent two weeks in the notoriously secretive Democratic People's Republic of Korea, a cut-off land without internet or phone signal, where the countryside has barely moved beyond a centuries-old peasant economy but where the cities have gleaming skyscrapers and luxurious underground train stations. His resulting documentary for Channel 5 was widely acclaimed. Now he shares his day-by-day diary of his visit, in which he describes not only what he saw - and his fleeting views of what the authorities didn't want him to see - but recounts the conversations he had with the country's inhabitants, talks candidly about his encounters with officialdom, and records his musings about a land wholly unlike any other he has ever visited - one that inspires fascination and fear in equal measure. Written with Palin's trademark warmth and wit, and illustrated with beautiful colour photographs throughout, the journal offers a rare insight into the North Korea behind the headlines.
This beautifully produced volume - colour plates, outstanding maps - is a
landmark achievement.' - Ken McGoogan, author of Fatal Passage`I absolutely
loved it: I had to read it at one sitting .
Made in Wales -- Magnetic north -- Magnetic south -- Far-off shores -- "Our southern home"--"Farther south than any (known) human being has been" -- Dancing with the captains -- "Pilgrims of the ocean" -- "Such a wretched place as this you never saw" -- "Three years from Gillingham" -- Homeward bound -- "So little now remains to be done" -- North by north-west -- No signal -- The truth -- Life and death -- The inuit story -- Resurrection.
"The Palestine Festival of Literature was established in 2008. Bringiong together writers from all corners of the globe, it aims to help Palestinians break the cultural siege imposed by the Isreali military occupation, to strengthen their artistic links with the the rest of the world."--Book flap
