There and Back

The fourth volume of Michael Palin''s widely acclaimed diaries finds him embracing the first decade of a new century. In Travelling to Work , the third volume covering the years 1988-1998, Michael''s career took an unexpected direction into travel after a decade of filming, writing and acting, and it is travel that would shape his working life for the next 25 years, with eight very successful television series including Around the World in 80 Days and Pole to Pole . The early years of the 21st century see Michael trekking around (around through) the world''s largest desert in Sahara (2002) and travelling around some of the highest mountains in the world in Himalaya (2004), and for a complete change of scenery there was New Europe (2007), in which Michael travelled in the nations of Eastern Europe. In each case he wrote a book about his travels. These travel programmes were responsible for a phenomenon termed the ''Palin effect'': areas of the world that Michael has visited suddenly becoming popular tourist attractions. Michael also wrote and presented documentary programmes on artists that interested him - the Scottish colonists in The Bright Side of Life ; The Ladies Who Loved Matisse ; and The Mystery of Hammershoi on the Danish artist. As a model railway enthusiast, he also had two trains named after him. He won a BAFTA Special Award in 2005 and another as part of the Monty Python team in 2009. Finally, in 2009 Michael was elected for a three-year term as President of the Royal Geographical Society. These latest Diaries show a man grasping every opportunity in a phenomenally varied life, and they deal candidly with the doubts and setbacks that accompany this prodigious work-rate. As ever, his family life is there to anchor him.

Préface
The much-anticipated fourth volume of the beloved Michael Palin's celebrated diaries

Auteur

Michael Palin

Texte du rabat

THE FOURTH VOLUME OF MICHAEL PALIN'S BESTSELLING DIARIES

A new millennium, and a new chapter for Michael Palin unfolds. With a Hemingway travel project testing his confidence, doubts creeping in about his abilities as a writer, the death of his great friend George Harrison and the last of his children leaving home, the dawn of the twenty-first century sees Michael at his most reflective yet.

Over the next ten years, we watch through Michael's eyes as the world reels from the successive shocks of September 11, the 7/7 bombings and the global financial crash. With the warmth and gentle empathy that have endeared him to millions of fans over the decades, Michael documents the day-to-day detail of living in a world buffeted by such powerful winds of change.

And amidst this turbulence, one thing remains constant: Michael's irrepressible curiosity and thirst for adventure. These diaries follow his life as he comes and goes through the filming of four blockbuster travel documentaries - Hemingway Adventure, Sahara, Himalaya and New Europe - and reaches the peak of his fame as a beloved TV traveller. And five years on from the last of his children flying the nest, Michael embarks on his greatest adventure yet: becoming a besotted grandfather.

There and Back is a new window into the world of Michael Palin, one that reveals more than ever the strength and succour he draws from those ever-present supporting structures in his life: his family, his friendships and, of course, the Pythons.