by Michael Palin
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. In the journal he kept during his trip he describes the war-ravaged city of Mosul and the children he encounters growing up amid its ruins. He contemplates the graffiti-strewn ruins of Saddam Hussein's former palaces, and he notes the constant presence of armed guards. But there are patches of light amid the dark: boisterous New Year celebrations in Akre, the friendliness of generals and colonels at 'Checkpoint Cheerful', and public poetry readings in Baghdad. People getting on with their lives.
At the same time, Michael charts the course of one of the great rivers of the world, showing how the water that gave life to such ancient settlements as Babylon and Ur is now becoming a scarce and hotly contested resource. And he considers the role that Iraq's other great natural resource - oil - plays in both providing wealth and threatening political stability.
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.
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Hike, Drive, Stayin' Alive!
by The Raven Brothers
Out of shape and unprepared, The
Raven Brothers return to the road in a collection of ten quests to travel to their dream destinations
against all odds! After two decades pioneering new routes across the globe, you would expect the
authors of 'Driving the Trans-Siberian' to be hotshot explorers, with a sixth sense and an ability to
survive in almost any situation. Think again! With virtually zero knowledge of the workings of the
internal combustion engine and very limited skills of wilderness survival, Simon and Chris struggle
into their hiking boots and power across three continents by river, tarmac and trail.
Venture to the top of Norway, cruise the
road to Damascus, hike the Camino trail into Spain’s Wild West, row the Ganges, explore Frida
Kahlo’s world in Mexico City, hangout with the dead in Sicily’s eerie catacombs, crawl deep inside
Bolivia’s notorious silver mine, seek lions in Gujarat, wellness in Berlin and journey into the Naga
Hills where tribal kings still rule.
Noted by Lonely Planet for their talent to portray an “accurate view of what to expect”, 'Hike,
Drive, Stayin’ Alive!' signals a return to the duo writing “buttock clenching” travel comedy with the
first in a series of candid stories of adventure by The Raven Brothers.
