Michael Palin

Random House presents the audiobook edition of Erebus, written and read by Michael Palin.

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THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

In the early years of Queen Victoria''s reign, HMS Erebus undertook two of the most ambitious naval expeditions of all time.

On the first, she ventured further south than any human had ever been. On the second, she vanished with her 129-strong crew in the wastes of the Canadian Arctic, along with the HMS Terror.

Her fate remained a mystery for over 160 years.

Then, in 2014, she was found.

This is her story.
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Now available: Michael Palin''s North Korea Journals
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A BBC RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK

''Beyond terrific . . . I didn''t want it to end.'' Bill Bryson

''Illuminated by flashes of gentle wit . . . It''s a fascinating story that [Palin] brings full-bloodedly to life.'' Guardian

''This is an incredible book . . . The Erebus story is the Arctic epic we''ve all been waiting for.'' Nicholas Crane

''Thoroughly absorbs the reader. . . Carefully researched and well-crafted, it brings the story of a ship vividly to life.'' Sunday Times

''A great story . . . Told in a very relaxed and sometimes - as you might expect - very funny Palin style.'' David Baddiel, Daily Mail

''Magisterial . . . Brings energy, wit and humanity to a story that has never ceased to tantalise people since the 1840s.'' The Times

Brought to you by Penguin.

In March 2022, Michael Palin travelled the length of the River Tigris through Iraq to get a sense of what life is like in a region of the world that once formed the cradle of civilisation, but that in recent times has witnessed turmoil and appalling bloodshed. It was a journey of sharp, often brutal contrasts. At one moment he would be exploring the old streets of Baghdad or the ancient ruins of Babylon. At the next he would be visiting the war-torn city of Mosul, or learning about the horrific Speicher massacre in Tikrit. Now he shares the journal he meticulously kept during his trip, in which he describes the very varied places he visited, the people he met and the impressions he formed of a country that few outsiders now venture to see.

Illustrated throughout with colour photographs taken on the trip, and permeated with his warmth and humour, this is a vivid and varied portrait of a complex country.

© Michael Palin 2022 (P) Penguin Audio 2022

Brought to you by Penguin.Some years ago a stash of family records was handed down to Michael Palin, among which were photos of an enigmatic young man in army uniform, as well as photos of the same young man as a teenager looking uncomfortable at family gatherings. This, Michael learnt, was his Great-Uncle Harry, born in 1884, died in 1916. He had previously had no idea that he had a Great-Uncle Harry, much less that his life was cut short at the age of 32 when he was killed in the Battle of the Somme. The discovery both shocked him and made him want to know much more about him.The quest that followed involved hundreds of hours of painstaking detective work. Michael dug out every bit of family gossip and correspondence he could. He studied every relevant official document. He tracked down what remained of his great-uncle Harry's diaries and letters, and pored over photographs of First World War battle scenes to see whether Harry appeared in any of them. He walked the route Harry took on that fatal, final day of his life amid the mud of northern France. And as he did so, a life that had previously existed in the shadows was revealed to him.Great-Uncle Harry is an utterly compelling account of an ordinary man who led an extraordinary life. A blend of biography, history, travelogue and personal memoir this is Michael Palin at his very finest.(c)2023 Michael Palin (P)2023 Penguin Audio

"How could I have known then with no maps acquired and my bags not yet packed that my journey had already begun? ...The tools of a traveler are compass and map. They calculate distances covered and destinations sought but cannot measure the consequences of experiences on a human heart," writes Michael Katakis in his introduction. Traveller is a collection of letters and journal entries that bring the immediacy of experience together with perceptive reflections of the author's own past. The entries in this volume are not travel guides. They are more personal, like letters from the most desirable sort of friend. The friend carries the listener with him as he meanders through the medina in Fez or into the hills of Gallipoli. His voice is such that listeners can almost smell the herbs and dusty soil of Crete, and always they are introduced to the people he meets along the way. For anyone curious about the world, and introduced with a foreword written and read by Michael Palin, Traveller is sure to delight, infuriate and, perhaps most importantly, inspire thought about the complex world around them.