There and Back

True, this evolving series is the ultimate comfort read, but it’s also much more than that: a social history of Britain spanning four decades, told with unflagging empathy and wit – Jonathan Coe * Observer *Michael Palin knows what makes a good diary … it’s his attention to the mundane, above all, that makes his diaries so enjoyable to read * Daily Telegraph *The dynamic [between the Pythons] remains eternally fascinating: there’s a permanent tension and endless bickering, but also a huge, unshakeable love … [Palin is] less of a national treasure and more of a sacred monument * Waitrose Magazine *A friend’s foolishness, his own fears, the minutiae of preparing for an overseas expedition, Palin writes it all down, so we know what happened and so he does as well … Perhaps that’s why diaries are such an engaging literary form. Like our own lives they veer between the everyday and the profound * Radio Times *In the fourth volume of diaries from the Monty Python alumnus, we get to hang out with this thoughtful, amusing, affectionate, intellectually curious man over a decade … This is full of friends (numerous, often famous), funerals and fun * Saga Magazine *

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, Erebus, the Story of a Ship and Great Uncle Harry. 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.