Sahara

by Michael Palin

Overview

Michael Palin's superb No. 1 bestseller about his incredible voyage across the Sahara.

Michael Palin's epic voyages have seen him circumnavigate the globe, travel from the North to the South Pole and circle the countries of the Pacific Ocean, but this was perhaps the greatest challenge yet: to cross the vast and merciless Sahara desert.

As the journey unfolds, the Sahara reveals not the emptiness of endless sand dunes, but a huge and diverse range of cultures and landscapes and a long history of commerce and conquest stretching from the time of the ancient Egyptians to the oil-rich Islamic republics of today.

On his way, he encounters dangers such as camel stew, being run over by the Paris-Dakar rally and Dakar nightlife, as well as returning to the original spot where THE LIFE OF BRIAN was filmed.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780297863595
Publisher:	Orion
Publication date:	05/27/2010
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Sales rank:	184,129
File size:	7 MB

About the Author

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, two novels (Hemingway's Chair and The Truth), three volumes of diaries and Erebus, the Story of a Ship. 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.

Editorial Reviews

Fifty years after he was given his first book, Tales from the Arabian Nights, consummate traveler and Monty Python founding member Palin trekked to Francophone Africa, believing that the Sahara embodies "the thin line between survival and destruction, the power to take life or to transform it." Fortunately for his readers, the Sahara seems to have transformed Palin (Around the World in 80 Days, Full Circle). This tie-in to the Bravo series airing in April consists of Palin's journal entries, full of his trademark self-deprecating humor (writing about the far-removed city of Djenne, which a British tour group nonetheless infiltrated, Palin confesses that "I know I shouldn't feel this way, but when I'm asked if I've ever been to Stoke-on-Trent all my romantic illusions of desert travel begin to wilt"). But Palin is also a piquant political observer (he notes that African women may be "by nature more direct, more open, more honest and considerably less submissive than their menfolk expect them to be"), and the Sahara's exoticism frequently inspires him to craft beautiful descriptions (the bizarre "battleship-grey" baobab trees "look like some prehistorical arboreal throwback, gnarled and twisted like old prize-fighters"). Readers looking for engaging, detailed insight to the Sahara will hit paydirt here, although newcomers to Palin's work may find themselves dismayed by his ubiquitous appearance in the photographs that dot nearly every page of this book. 175 color and b&w photos. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

In this narrative, Palin, one of the founding members of Monty Python, fulfills a lifelong fantasy to travel across the Sahara Desert. His fascination with this harsh and uncompromising part of the world began when he was given a copy of Tales from the Arabian Nights. From Gibraltar, Palin starts and ends his journey across one of the world's most fascinating yet hostile environments. Accompanied by a film crew for a series airing on Bravo, Palin chronicles his journal entries for each stopping place, destination, or watering hole along the way. Across the Strait to Morocco, he stops in Fez and Marrakech before beginning the trek across the Atlas Mountains. The author then moves on to Mauritania, Dakar, Mali, and the River Niger. Throughout, the listener is introduced to exotic and simple foods, walks alongside nomadic herdsmen, rides with a Touareg camel caravan, climbs the Hoggar Mountains, and finally flies over Algeria's oilfields. Borders and frontiers-some safe, many extremely dangerous-and nationalities that trace many of their customs back to colonial overseers heighten the mystery and danger of the Sahara. Palin brings into focus the complex issues facing this region and the simmering tensions that lurk just beneath the surface. He is a writer and world traveler with a large following; as a reader of his own words, his latest entry in this venue will not disappoint his many fans, or even newcomers to his work. Highly recommended for all public library collections.-Gloria Maxwell, Penn Valley Community Coll., Kansas City, MO Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

Brisk, fresh and makes you want to go where he has gone, if not necessarily to eat camel liver—Daily Telegraph

The ultimate armchair travel book—Guardian

A glorious travel book. There's never a dull moment, either, in the stunning photography or the entertaining travel notes—Daily Mail

Palin is the Python we all want to go abroad with—Observer

Palin makes a wonderful travelling companion ... his humour is set at exactly the right pitch—Daily Telegraph

From the Publisher

The audio version of Monty Python alumnus Michael Palin's TV documentary chronicles his travels through North Africa. With considerable charm, humor, descriptive power, and informative sidebars, Palin provides a lively picture of the people and places he encounters. As narrator, Palin suffers from a little stiffness, as if reading stationary from a script is uncomfortable and restricting. Otherwise, he sounds the way one would expect from his many video and cinematic performances. Y.R. © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine

DEC 03/JAN 04 - AudioFile