Pole to Pole (BBC Books) - Softcover

Michael Palin

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0140257438 ISBN 13: 9780140257434

Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd, 1997

Synopsis

Having circumnavigated the globe from west to east in Around the World in 80 Days , Michael Palin proceeded to stretch even his endurance with his next journey, travelling due south from the North Pole, arriving five months later at the southernmost point of the globe, the South Pole. The result is Pole to Pole , Palin's account of his extraordinary journey between July and December 1991, passing through 17 countries from Greenland and the former Soviet Union in the north to Kenya, South Africa and Chile in the south. From the frozen wastes of both poles, to the scorching heat of Africa, Pole to Pole is a travelogue of bizarre extremes. Palin revels in the surrealism of it all as he travels through a range of vastly different European and African communities undergoing massive social and political upheavals in the aftermath of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Palin's shrewd observations are as ever interspersed with his eye for the weird and the comical, as he meets Santa Claus and Lenin, goes shopping for camels in Omdurman, and makes a final hectic dash to the South Pole via Chile. It's all quite exhausting! -- Jerry Brotton

About this title

Review

Actor Michael Palin has managed to keep busy since his days with the British comedy group Monty Python. First, he traveled Around the World in 80 Days while a BBC crew filmed his adventures; in Pole to Pole, Palin once again straps on his old kit bag--this time to traverse the globe from north to south. Accompanied once again by a dauntless film crew, Palin begins in the far, frozen wastes of the Arctic Circle, then passes through 17 countries, including Norway, the former USSR, Turkey, Egypt, South Africa, and Chile, before standing at last at the South Pole. Along the way the company is faced with revolution, illness and injury, and not a few bumpy plane rides--occurrences they meet with the obligatory stiff upper lip. Palin also rides in a hot air balloon, acquires a camel, consults a witch doctor, and plunges into the heart of a South African diamond mine, two kilometers beneath the surface of the earth.

These adventures and more are related in Palin's journal entries and illustrated by dozens of color and black-and-white photographs. The best travel stories often chronicle trips no sane person would care to experience herself; in Pole to Pole, Michael Palin has done the suffering for us, leaving readers to enjoy the humor, excitement, and joy of exotic climes from the comfort of our armchairs.

About the Author

Michael Palin established his reputation with Monty Python's Flying Circus and Ripping Yarns. His work also includes several films with Monty Python as well as The Missionary, A Private Function, an award-winning performance as Ken in A Fish Called Wanda, as well as Fierce Creatures. He has also written several books to accompany his very successful travel series.

Edition details

• Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
• Publication date: 1997
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0140257438
• ISBN 13: 9780140257434
• Binding: Paperback