There and Back : Diaries 1999-2009 by Michael Palin

***Published – 26th September 2024***

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 millions of fans to him 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 sees him navigating the question of just how much of himself to share with the public as he prepares to publish the first volume of what were to become his bestselling diaries.

It 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.