Product Description

Michael Palin's travel books have repeatedly topped the bestseller lists. In this book he is back at his adventurous best tie-ing in with a major BBC TV series. The book/series will travel through many countries little known to the West, providing opportunities for Palinesque adventures to please the large and loyal audience who followed 80 DAYS, POLE TO POLE and FULL CIRCLE.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #32400 in Books
• Published on: 2002-09-26
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 256 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Michael Palin's personality is a combination of some very disparate elements, many of them displayed at their most attractive in Sahara. There's the friendly, avuncular manner; the easy-going charm that women find so attractive; and that vein of surrealistic, sardonic humour that is the legacy of his Monty Python days. All these characteristics combined to create the perfect host for the ambitious travel programmes with which he's latterly been associated. The shows (and the handsome companion books that invariably accompany them) avoid the sometimes over-serious approach of other presenters and show us some very exotic parts of the world filtered through Palin's very idiosyncratic vision. Audiences and readers can't get enough.

Sahara gives us the latest of his epic voyages, and this one possibly represents the most arduous challenge of his career: across the massive and unforgiving Sahara desert. In this beautifully produced volume (studded with some eye-catching colour photographs), we are taken on a unique journey, as Palin reveals the Sahara to us as something considerably more than endless sand dunes. Facet by facet, Michael Palin uncovers a colourful and eccentric panoply of cultures, with chequered histories that stretch back to the dawn of time. Beginning (and ending) in Gibraltar, we are taken from the fabled realms of the ancient Egyptians to the Islamic republics of the present day, as Palin conjures up a journey that alternates between gallows humour and often considerable discomfort. Most of us will never experience the teeming nightlife of Dakar or travel down the river Niger to the fabled city of Timbuktu. But Palin has done it for us, and this book (with or without the accompanying TV series) is a highly enjoyable way to relive that journey with him. --Barry Forshaw

Review
'One of the most fascinating aspects of his account is the range of cultures that have left their mark on the area, from Roman amphitheatres to enormous natural gas pipelines, and from mud-brick mosques to French railway stations. Palin's brisk, wry narrative also includes stunning photographs by Basil Pao.' THE SUNDAY TIMES (5/10/03) 'Entertaining account of Michael Palin's journey across the Sahara that ties in with the TV series'. WOMAN & HOME (October 2003) '... an epic voyage that uncovers a surprisingly large and diverse range of cultures and memerising landscapes... Sahara is a witty insight into this fascinating region. The sardonic humour of his Monty Python days stays with him throughout the trip and helps to provide a refreshingly alternative view of this alluring part of the world. If you've enjoyed Palin's other books you'll love this. And if you haven't, make Sahara your first introduction to his writing.' GLOBAL ADVENTURE (October 2003)

Sumptuously illustrated and charmingly written, this handsome book is a guaranteed hit with any fan of the ex-Python. In it Palin explores the exotic mystery of a desert populated by nomads, camels, displaced peoples and ex-colonials with the winsome wit and self-deprecation we've come to expect. There are moments in the book where his concern with bowel function and his health in general can be more irritating than engaging, but at least he is truthful about his incapacity in the face of others' seemingly effortless survival in harsh conditions. His bumbling Englishman abroad persona is seriously tested at times and the incident where he (nearly) gets lost in the desert is truly frightening. Palin aside, this book would be worth buying just for the gorgeous photographs by Basil Pao. A palpable heat radiates from page after page of richly coloured, artfully framed photographs. However, this isn't an overly romantic view of a troubled region of the world. Rusty military jeeps, old machine guns, poverty and squalor feature too. Palin and his crew travel from the quaint Englishness of Gibraltar through Morocco, Algeria, Western Sahara, Mauritania, Senegal, Mali, Niger, Libya and Tunisia. He does not overly engage with the politics of the region but the reader senses Palin's compassion and concern for the many people he meets whose lives are harder than they should be. There are books that cover the Sahara desert, its peoples and politics in more depth (and a useful bibliography is included). However, few are as beautiful as this one and no other includes the memories and thoughts of a man crucified in the Tunisian desert while singing 'Always Look on the Bright Side of Life'. (Kirkus UK)

Review
'One of the most fascinating aspects of his account is the range of cultures that have left their mark on the area, from Roman amphitheatres to enormous natural gas pipelines, and from mud-brick mosques to French railway stations. Palin's brisk, wry narrative also includes stunning photographs by Basil Pao.' (THE SUNDAY TIMES (5/10/03) )

'Entertaining account of Michael Palin's journey across the Sahara that ties in with the TV series'. (WOMAN & HOME (October 2003) )

'... an epic voyage that uncovers a surprisingly large and diverse range of cultures and memerising landscapes.... Sahara is a witty insight into this fascinating region. The sardonic humour of his Monty Python days stays with him throughout the trip and helps to provide a refreshingly alternative view of this alluring part of the world. If you've enjoyed Palin's other books you'll love this. And if you haven't, make Sahara your first introduction to his writing.' (GLOBAL ADVENTURE (October 2003) )

'Palin fans won't be able to put down this account of his most epic voyage across the Sahara. Full of fascinating facts and plenty of stunning photos.' (FAMILY CIRCLE (December 2003) )

Customer Reviews

A Bit Disappointing
Sahara by and large is a good but it dose get very repetitive. Palin in one of the best descriptive writes i know and you get a good fell for the country's.

Its just such a shame that its so respective and not in the slights bit addictive. Morocco is a good start but after Mauritania, and Senegal you just get fed up and want to read something else.Also missing out Egypt was a bit mistake. New Europe's a lot better. Only read this if are into travel books.

Brilliant
This is another brilliant account of a Palin journey. It has the usual beautifully reproduced photography and is written with Palin's wonderful sense of description and humour, although I did find this book slightly more tedious towards the end than any of his other travel books, for that reason i'd recommend his earlier books first. Saying that there is such diversity in such a relatively small part of north Africa that you are left astounded at all the different cultures and customs. A great piece of travel literature.

A good book about a not-so-good trip
All of the travelogues made with Michael Palin for BBC TV resulted in a book being published as an alternative account of the trip. These books were written by Michael Palin and contain his fascinating descriptions of the trips plus many beautiful and interesting photographs.

For all of the previous trips ("Around the World in 80 Days", "Pole to Pole", "Full Circle", and "Hemingway Adventure") I found the tone of the TV programs and the books to be consistent. This is not the case with "Sahara".

For "Sahara" the TV program is fairly upbeat, with the same mood as the other TV programs in the series. The book, on the other hand, is more honest and discusses or mentions many problems not featured in the TV program.

The trip involved traveling all around and through the Sahara Desert. It started in Gibraltar and went through Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania, Senegal, Mali, Niger, Algeria, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria again, Ceuta, and back to Gibraltar. Some of these countries are huge; for example, Algeria is four times the size of France or three times the size of Texas. The Sahara Desert is roughly the same size as the United States, and the trip covered 10,000 miles and took three months.

It's a very impressive trip, and "Sahara" (the book) does an excellent job of describing it all. Despite the negative aspects of the trip the book still shows Michael Palin's wit and charm, and one does get a very good impression of what it was like for him to make this trip.

But now for a list of the negative aspects related to the countries and areas traveled through:
- inhospitable environment, extreme heat, drought, no water, freezing nights
- poverty, unemployment, begging, disease, starvation
- discrimination against women
- political unrest, refugees, fear of rebels, armed guards needed in Algeria
- primitive customs, cultures in decline, refusal to accept the modern world
- barbaric traditions (female circumcision, sacrificial slaughter of sheep)
- cities in slow deterioration, lack of modern facilities
- economies based almost entirely on exploitation of natural resources
- incredible bureaucracy, filming under restrictive supervision, especially in Libya
- people desperate to escape Africa and enter Europe

To top it all off, the Sept. 11, 2001 tragedy occurred in the middle of this trip. That certainly put a damper on the mood.

A few quotes from the book may help to explain my negative feelings about the whole trip:

"They knew that almost anywhere else is better than here and yet it is their home." (pg 195)

"... a sharp and poignant contrast to the apathy and resignation I've seen in so much of the Sahara." (pg 241)

OK, I am focusing too much on the negative aspects of the trip, but they are there, although they were glossed over in the TV program. Still, it's a very good book about a not-so-good trip, and I do recommend the book.

But not the audio version, even though it is read by Michael Palin himself. I dislike abridged audio books, and the audio version of this book (at least the version on four cassettes that lasts 6 hours) is definitely abridged, despite it being sold as unabridged by some resellers.

Rennie Petersen