There and Back

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.

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.