Into Iraq: Michael Palin

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Always a joy to join Palin on another travel, even when it's one that is shorter than previous epics (he is almost 80 now), and one that has a more sombre tone thanks to the war riven background to Iraq. Zum ersten Mal sind auch Michaels Alter und seine Gesundheit ein Thema, denn seine fast 80 Jahren und eine überstandenen Operation am Herzen bergen Risiken für die Reise.

His books include accounts of his journeys, novels (Hemingway’s Chair and The Truth) and several volumes of diaries. In March 2022, Michael 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. This account imparts its knowledge lightly, may make you want to visit, and reminded me of how much I miss the country I briefly lived in.Read more about the condition New: A new, unread, unused book in perfect condition with no missing or damaged pages.

There is surprisingly only one reference to Lawrence of Arabia (I am also reading a 100-year old book ‘Lawrence and the Arabs’), and then only about his friend Gertrude Bell, one of the founders of the modern Iraq.At the next he would be visiting the war-torn city of Mosul, or learning about the horrific Speicher massacre in Tikrit. I was left feeling somewhat sad for the people and their future, but maybe part of the melancholy was for Palin himself, and the end of an era. This meant no long recovery to get the sands of Iraq out of my hair but it also meant that I could start while the memories were fresh.

For years, it seemed 2012's Brazil was to be Michael Palin's swansong - and one in which he moved away from his trademark celebration of travel and movement and into a more documentary format, rocking up in convenient places to deliver a piece to camera. Come down the travelators, exit Sainsbury's, turn right and follow the pedestrianised walkway to Crown Walk and turn right - and Coles will be right in front of you. 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.Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page. Aber auch wenn er immer wieder gerade die alltäglichen Dinge, die er beobachtet, zu etwas Besonderem macht, verschwindet die Reserviertheit vom Anfang nicht ganz. With over 6,500 books here and several more arriving each week I doubt I'll ever be short of a topic. Daarna volgden nog vele andere reizen, waarvan ook boeken verschenen, vaak met veel kleurenfoto’s en vanuit een dagboekperspectief geschreven.

He contemplates the graffiti-strewn ruins of Saddam Hussein’s former palaces, and he notes the constant presence of armed guards. The juxtaposition between modern Iraq and the ruins of the ancient civilisations which stretch back to the dawn of civilisation is extreme.

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. Intended to be a companion piece he did for British TV, which I haven't seen, this is parts of a diary and recordings the Python alumni made on his recent trip to Iraq. For someone who is literally Iraqi and knows most of the stuff in this book – it was nothing new except for a few things I'll probably ask my dad about. His journeys have taken him across the world, the North and South Poles, the Sahara desert, the Himalayas and most recently, Eastern Europe. Palin was always good interacting with locals in previous documentaries and whilst I haven’t yet seen the TV series that this book accompanies, that is only three sixty minute episodes and those include adverts so I doubt you get much more insight.