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Reading lists

The best celebrity books of 2019

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Michael Palin and David Baddiel on The Penguin Podcast (live)

The Penguin Podcast: Michael Palin with David Baddiel

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Features

Michael Palin on HMS Erebus: ‘a story of life, death and resurrection’

Into Iraq

In March 2022, Michael Palin travelled the length of the River Tigris through Iraq to get a sense of what life is like in a region of the world that once formed the cradle of civilisation, but that in recent times has witnessed turmoil and appalling bloodshed. In the journal he kept during his trip he describes the war-ravaged city of Mosul and the children he encounters growing up amid its ruins. He contemplates the graffiti-strewn ruins of Saddam Hussein's former palaces, and he notes the constant presence of armed guards. But there are patches of light amid the dark: boisterous New Year celebrations in Akre, the friendliness of generals and colonels at 'Checkpoint Cheerful', and public poetry readings in Baghdad. People getting on with their lives. 
 
At the same time, Michael charts the course of one of the great rivers of the world, showing how the water that gave life to such ancient settlements as Babylon and Ur is now becoming a scarce and hotly contested resource. And he considers the role that Iraq's other great natural resource - oil - plays in both providing wealth and threatening political stability. 
 
Illustrated throughout with colour photographs taken on the trip, and permeated with his warmth and humour, this is a vivid and varied portrait of a complex country.

Michael Palin has written and starred in numerous TV programmes and films, from Monty Python and Ripping Yarns to The Missionary and The Death of Stalin. He has also made several much-acclaimed travel documentaries, his journeys taking him to the North and South Poles, the Sahara Desert, the Himalayas, Eastern Europe and Brazil. His books include accounts of his journeys, novels (Hemingway's Chair and The Truth) and several volumes of diaries. From 2009 to 2012 he was president of the Royal Geographical Society. He received a BAFTA fellowship in 2013, and a knighthood in the 2019 New Year Honours list. He lives in London.

North Korea Journal

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.

A glimpse of life inside the world’s most secretive country, as told by Britain’s best-loved travel writer.

Palin expands on his Channel 5 documentary with this absorbing and beautifully illustrated day-by-day account.

A fascinating proposition . . . [a] winning mix of genuine interest, good-humoured charm and that deceptively steely nose for humbug.

An eye-opening look at a place that doesn’t figure on most travellers' bucket lists

The Python’s most dangerous journey yet. Palin journeyed into the heart of Kim Jong-un’s repressive and secretive regime.

[Lifts] the veil on one of the last blind spots on the globe

The most recent – and the most extraordinary – trip was his exploration of North Korea… in his North Korea Journal… he offers fresh insight into the secretive country, which he approached with his signature openness and curiosity.

Reading his account . . . one is reminded afresh of Palin’s great qualities as a traveller – his curiosity, good humour, and willingness to see the best in everyone he encounters.

It’s a typically entertaining guide, combining travelogue tips with his own interesting observations

TV adventurer and Monty Python legend Michael Palin recounts his most recent travel escapades . . . the book details a world of gleaming skyscrapers, an airport with no passengers and a countryside where centuries-old traditions dominate

The book is full of stunning photography which shows the natural splendour and beauty of Korea. And it also affords a rare glimpse of a non-communist who is really attempting to get to the pulse of everyday life in the country. Palin has a refreshing honesty about people who we almost never get to see.

His careful probing and gentle observations of a country that is at once suffocated by suppression and highly-functioning make for an eye-opening account with a level of humanity that often gets lost in the headlines.

A typically cracking Palin read with loads of lovely photos.

Michael Palin has written and starred in numerous TV programmes and films, from Monty Python and Ripping Yarns to The Missionary and The Death of Stalin. He has also made several much-acclaimed travel documentaries, his journeys taking him to the North and South Poles, the Sahara Desert, the Himalayas, Eastern Europe and Brazil. His books include accounts of his journeys, novels (Hemingway’s Chair and The Truth) and several volumes of diaries. From 2009 to 2012 he was president of the Royal Geographical Society, and in 2013 he was made a BAFTA fellow. He lives in London.

Erebus: The Story of a Ship

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THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER: the remarkable true story of the exploration ship featured in The Terror 
 
In the early years of Queen Victoria's reign, HMS Erebus undertook two of the most ambitious naval expeditions of all time. 
 
On the first, she ventured further south than any human had ever been. On the second, she vanished with her 129-strong crew in the wastes of the Canadian Arctic, along with the HMS Terror. 
 
Her fate remained a mystery for over 160 years. 
 
Then, in 2014, she was found. 
 
This is her story. 
_______________ 
Now available: Michael Palin's North Korea Journals 
_______________ 
A BBC RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK 
 
'Beyond terrific . . . I didn't want it to end.' Bill Bryson 
 
'Illuminated by flashes of gentle wit . . . It's a fascinating story that [Palin] brings full-bloodedly to life.' Guardian 
 
'This is an incredible book . . . The Erebus story is the Arctic epic we've all been waiting for.' Nicholas Crane 
 
'Thoroughly absorbs the reader. . . Carefully researched and well-crafted, it brings the story of a ship vividly to life.' Sunday Times 
 
'A great story . . . Told in a very relaxed and sometimes - as you might expect - very funny Palin style.' David Baddiel, Daily Mail 
 
'Magisterial . . . Brings energy, wit and humanity to a story that has never ceased to tantalise people since the 1840s.' The Times

Michael Palin brings to life one of the greatest adventures of all time

Beyond terrific. I didn’t want it to end.

Thoroughly absorbs the reader. . . Carefully researched and well-crafted, it brings the story of a ship vividly to life.

[Palin’s] narrative is driven by a deep sympathy for explorers and adventurers, while also being illuminated by flashes of gentle wit . . . It’s a fascinating story that he brings full-bloodedly to life, stripping away the barnacles of the past to reveal the hidden history of a ship.

Everybody’s talking about it . . . A brilliant book.

With this irresistible and often harrowing account, Michael Palin makes a convincing case that one heroic little ship embodied the golden ago of polar exploration better than any other: HMS Erebus.

[Written] with a wry enthusiasm, bolstered by his own experiences as an eminent explorer and film-maker . . . His moving account of the discovery of abandoned items, taken on board as comforts of home by the officers – silver cutlery with their initials indented, scattered on a frozen shore – affected me the most.

I absolutely loved it: I had to read it at one sitting . . . Fascinating.

Magisterial . . . A natural storyteller, [Palin] captures beautifully the sense of awe experienced by Ross and his men as they encountered the wonders and terrors of Antarctica . . . He brings energy, wit and humanity to a story that has never ceased to tantalise people since the 1840s.

At this late date, and against all odds, Michael Palin has found an original way to enter and explore the Royal Navy narrative of polar exploration. Palin is a superb stylist, low-key and conversational, who skillfully incorporates personal experience. He turns up obscure facts, reanimates essential moments, and never shies away from taking controversial positions. This beautifully produced volume – colour plates, outstanding maps – is a landmark achievement.

This is an incredible book. I couldn’t put it down. The Erebus story is the Arctic epic we’ve all been waiting for.

A timely account of Sir John Franklin’s 1845 expedition to find a way through the Northwest Passage . . . [Palin] does an admirable job of recounting the life of this doughty ship, from construction at Pembroke dockyard in 1826 to her last days stuck fast in the ice . . . vivid, evocative stuff . . . pulls together very effectively much of the work that’s been done to establish the truth about Franklin’s fate.

What a book this is! . . . [Palin] brings not just a historian’s and writer’s skills to it, but those of a traveller.

Extraordinary . . . Thoroughly sifts through the many varied and often contradictory theories about what happened to the 129 men aboard Franklin’s two ships.

Compelling . . . HMS Erebus embarked on two of the most dramatic Polar expeditions in history . . . Michael’s historical non fiction debut charts both journeys and brings back to life all those who sailed on her.

I’ve been mesmerised . . . Palin’s book charts the 1845 voyage of Sir John Franklin, who sought the Northwest Passage with HMS Terror and HMS Erebus.

Combines a fascinating episode of naval history with [Palin’s] flair for storytelling.

[Palin] successfully reanimates the corpse, bringing Erebus back from the depths of time so her funnels once more blast smoke as she forges through new and wondrous seas.

Palin’s experiences, including a voyage on a Russian ship to the channel where the wreck of Erebus was discovered, give a sense of immediacy and proportion to his narrative . . . Michael Palin has done full justice to [John Franklin] and all these remarkable men. This truly is a marvellous book.

This lively account reveals much about both exploration and the Royal Navy in the 19th century . . . Palin is a diligent researcher who has trawled the primary sources and, largely in the course of filming his television series Pole to Pole, has visited many of the key sites here.

Nicholas Crane, current president of the Royal Geographical Society, has described Palin, one of his predecessors, as “the world’s most appealing practitioner of geographical curiosity”, and it’s that curiosity which drives his stirring new book . . . His account is written in crisp, unshowy prose.

A great story . . . Told in a very relaxed and sometimes – as you might expect – very funny Palin style.

Palin has seized [the story] with relish: the distinctive dry humour familiar to his television audiences finds plenty of opportunities to emerge, and his easy assurance as a writer . . . keeps the pace sprightly.

Fascinating. Exciting. Authoritative.

A delightfully granular description of ship-board life, all told in a brisk, breezy style . . . A very readable and fascinating tale from the early years of polar exploration.

A great read . . . You feel you’re sitting in the pub with Michael Palin himself as he regales you with tales of the mighty seas.

The nicest Python with yet another deeply fascinating project

Everyone’s favourite Python tells the story of Erebus in his cheery prose style

Palin, a skilled writer, makes extensive use of diaries, letters and other sources to anchor his story in clear detail in this highly recommended read.

Palin’s personality – that of a rather beloved Uncle who knows something about everything – can’t help shining through, but he never lets it over-shadow the weaving of this, the very definition of a ripping yarn.

These gloomy winter days have put me in the perfect mood for grim tales of desperate men in the frozen north, a craving satisfied in spades by Michael Palin's excellent Erebus . . . The book is a serious bit of history by Palin, backed up by proper research and genuine insight . . . a lovely piece of publishing by Hutchinson.

One of my favourite reads/listens recently was Michael Palin's excellent Erebus. Highly recommended.

A true tale that brings the main characters and events to life with wit, empathy and clarity . . . A beautifully written and researched book from a natural storyteller. I expected something fantastic and I got it.

Probably the most enjoyable non-fiction book I have ever read.

A Sackful of Limericks

If you've ever wondered what happened to the young fellow from Malta who bought his grandfather an altar… 
 
If you're concerned about the camper called Jack who found a huge snake in his pack… 
 
And if you suspect that an eccentric landowner called Grey spent Christmas a very strange way but aren't sure precisely what that entailed… 
 
Then a dip into Michael Palin's Sackful of Limericks will provide all the answers – and a lot of fun besides.

A collection of over 100 wondrously witty and fabulously festive limericks

When not engaged in composing limericks, Michael Palin acts, performs, writes books, and travels the world with a film crew in tow.

Monty Python's Flying Circus

Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones star in this innovative and groundbreaking series which includes 19 of their best sketches.   From the memorable 'Nudge Nudge Wink Wink' to the celebrated 'Dead Parrot Sketch', there’s also the hairdresser with a fear of hair who really wanted to be a lumberjack in 'Barber Shop Sketch' and the 'Lumberjack Song'. Also featuring among many timeless classics are leading figures from the Third Reich, who fetch up in a B&amp;B in the West Country, and the famous composer who only has one shed but did once think of getting a second...   Vintage Beeb: classic albums first available as BBC LPs, now reissued on CD and as downloads.

The very best sketches from the BBC TV series, now digitally remastered.

Michael Palin

A Tale of War and Empire

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. 
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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

Michael Palin

Great-Uncle Harry

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