Product Description
This illustrated biography celebrates the life and work of Michael Palin who, for the last 30 years has held a unique place, not just in British television, but in the world media. Since the much-revered Monty Python series first aired in 1969 and changed the face of British comedy, he has gone from strength to strength and his career encompasses an award winning series of children's books, hugely successful feature films such as "A Fish Called Wanda" and, of course, his travelogues which attracted unprecedented TV audiences and gave rise to a number of bestselling books. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Nice photos 'n' all but when the man ain't dead, this ages fast.
I learned a new word via reading Michael Palins books. Dromomaniac. Apparently it means someone addicted to travel. And Palin is certainly that. As for myself - you could say I'm an armchair dromomaniac!

Anyway, my wife bought this for me some years ago as a christmas present and it was fun to read the anecdotes of his life and had I not already been a big fan of Monty Python I probably would of gotten a lot more out of it. As it was much of this and more was already known to me due to my love of British comedy of the 50's/60's/70's. However I did enjoy it and the photographs of scenes from his journeys for which he has more lately become known are of course stunning.

As my heading says however there is an inherent problem in doing a biography on a guy who isn't dead. In fact on a guy who appears to be in rude health and has since completed a couple more of his adventure series. And anyone really wanting to know about Palin would probably be best served by getting copies of his self penned 'diaries' series which he has started to compile.

So without meaning to dismiss this release, it is very much coffee table in aspect and a bit short on real insight and as each new adventure of Palins comes along this book gets increasingly outdated.

A very Good read
I have only just resently read this book.It took me the better part of the day but I finished it!It has many pictures of him and his python crew that are very very good.The content explores his life, including his reactions to his sisters suicide.Very deep and emotional book.If you are looking to find the real Michael behind the mask this is the book to read.If you are looking for a funny book, you may be disappointed.I suggest to buy it because it is one of the only books that acutally looks at Michael as a human being, the guy next door, and does not focus on just his TV personality ... Read more

Product Description
Michael Palin has kept a diary since newly married in the late 1960s, when he was beginning to make a name for himself as a TV scriptwriter (for David Frost, the Two Ronnies, etc). But Monty Python was just around the corner. In this first volume of his diaries he tells for the first time how Python emerged and triumphed. Perceptive and funny, it chronicles not only his struggle to find a niche in the world of television comedy, but also the extraordinary goings on of the many powerful personalities who coalesced to form the Monty Python team. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Brilliant for Python fans
Python fans obtain insight into the formation and journey of the group through the 70's, as well as the progress of MP's career and matters of family during this same period.I found it very interesting; remarks about MP "sticking to his day job" appear to have been written by people looking for the history of Python, not the history of one of the group's most prolific contributors and the man that most would agree shouldered a heavier part of the load than his fellow Pythons.I went through the Diaries in about three weeks; will probably go through them again in a few months' time as they are enjoyable light reading.

This page is for the audio CD, is it not?
I checked the reviews on the printed book'spage, and they are almost unanimously glowing. I come here to check out the audio version, mainly to see if it is read by Palin himself, and I see 2 poor reviews about - the book?The good thing I guess is that if you aren't observant enough to know you are reviewing a printed book on an Audio CD page, then your review is probably not worth taking very seriously either.

Pallid Palin
I must agree with the other review posted so far - this is a huge and boring book.I was very excited when I saw it in the bookstore, bought it on impulse, and began to read it only to find that, yes, I was finding out way too much about what Michael had for dinner that day.Also way too many observations about weather and English towns and English politics and the Palin family.The Python stuff is described so matter-of-factly that there seems to be no joy of discovery in creating the groundbreaking material that still stands as the comedy gold standard today.Perhaps that was the way it was when the Python group did the work.If the rest of the book had some resonance beyond Python, that would still make it worthwhile as a published volume.But it doesn't and it really isn't.Michael is a huge talent whose great gifts are revealed in his comedy work, not in these monotone - but well-worded! - ramblings.

Uninteresting and ponderous
Being a python fan, I was looking for more nuggets about the group and the writing process, but this book revealed little of interest. Poorly edited ramblings about dinners and meetings with BBC nonentities, plus Michael's love of British socialism make it a really tough read. The phrase champagne socialist comes to mind. Not recommended unless you are a huge python fan. Michael should stick to his day job - brilliant script writing. ... Read more

Product Description
The long awaited biography of a unique showbusiness personality, from python to televsion traveller Michael Palin's life from his Yorkshire childhood to Hollwood stardom and growth into a household name is one of the most remarkable and unique stories of showbusiness. But Palin specialises in the unexpected. Renowned for being the nicest man inshowbusiness, a fact he would appear to detest judging from his response to press comments on it. Palin is one of the most popular figures in 90's Britain. Comic, writer, director and TV Adventurer: in Margolis's revealing Biography, palin emerges as a man of many surprises. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

All you need to know about your future VP
From the dirty backstreets of Sheffield to the golden city of Anchorage -- pausing along the way in almost every third-world country -- Palin's rise to power has been relentless.

Perhaps the most surprising element is the way in which ordinary Americans have clutched Palin to their collective bosom. In this scholarly masterpiece, Margolis suggests the reasons are primarily sentimental: the gubernatorial election result being due to Palin's part in the Lumberjack Song, not an in-depth knowledge of Alaskan salmon quotas.

His other interesting supposition is that Palin's evangelical Christianity dates from an epiphany whilst filming Monty Python's Life of Brian.

Overall, this book provides a fascinating insight into the background of the future Vice-President and usefully speculates as to how Palin's love of spam (and the infamous stint as a dead parrot vendor) means that America's future is in safe hands.

Thin
The only word to describe this bio is "thin'. The book, at only 233 pages (paperback) lacks any real depth or thorough understanding of Palin. The author appears to have gone the easy route and just done a cut and paste of the wealth of material publicly available on the author, and jsut pursues the obvious themes. ... Read more

Product Description
Photographer and writer Simon James has visited every last one of these quasi-mythical places, capturing on film London's suburban hinterland, that no-man's-land that is not quite city nor countryside, but a utopian combination of both - with their overgrown railway cuttings, litter-free stations, time-warp parades of shops, indistinguishable Acacia Avenues, pipe-and-slippers '30s architecture, and occasional, bizarre, even menacing incongruities - such as James' photograph of the 'Secret Nuclear Bunker' near Chipping Ongar Combined with numerous tube facts, figures and fantasies accumulated by the author on his travels, Mind the Gap is the book of the great unknown, the great adventure that awaits all Londoners.Michael Palin has kindly agreed to write a foreword to Mind the Gap, and has authorised his name to be printed on its front. He is the perfect person to endorse the book, not just because its photographs are as amiable, quirky and English as he is, but also due to his status as a traveller of renown - not just on the obvious globe-trotting level, but also in his capacity as chairman of the pressure group Transport 2000. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Not What You Might Expect
A surprising success. Though the appeal may be quite narrow, this book does a surprisingly good job at what it attempts to do. For anyone who has enjoyed a ride on the Underground, or who has marveled and the (mostly) clean, efficient, and occasionally spectacular Underground stations, Mind the Gap provides a new, fun, and provocative perspective. James takes his camera to all (literally all) those stations that those of us who spend our time in "Zone 1" see at the fringes of the Underground map but never visit. There he captures simple, carefully composed almost documentary images that give us unique view of the history, health, and scope of the Underground system. Though the photographs are individually nothing special (I really could have taken most of them myself, and done better in many cases) the collective effect is balanced and enjoyable.

Certainly a worthy addition any collection of Underground books, and a nice alternative for one that already includes the other fine books of photographs of the Underground and its stations.

Fascinating!
Such a charming, descriptive book with off-beat, revelatory photos, that I bought copies for a grandson who lives in London and uses the tube, and for several American friends who used it this summer.History and lots of entertaining comment.I've used the subway in Washington, Berlin, and Moscow but never in London. Now I can hardly wait to wide to the end of the various lines James tells about so winningly. Great gift for anyone visiting London or anyone who lives there.

Armchair traveling
The cover of the book draws the eye immediately because of it's unique (to me) design, and the title attracted me because it repeats the phrase heard over the loud-speaker in the "tube" as the doors begin to close.The photographs are excellent because they give a hint of mystery, solitude, history and loneliness -- all at the same time.The text just adds to the information in the photographs and shows James' thoroughness in presenting his subject to the readers.

Remember the Underground
This book was like a trip back to London. The charming photos captured many quintessential aspects of the Tube and its stations that I instantly recognized and recalled but hadn't remembered.The articles explain many interesting aspects of the Underground with humor (without getting into a dry historical recitation).Very enjoyable and a classic.

Fascinating Images and Archeology
A wonderful and humorous history of the London Underground.However, this is more than just history, James' photographs create a sense of time and place for the viewer, regardless of whether or not you are familiar with London and it's underground transportation system or not.Perhaps, what struck me most is the how full of color these Underground stations are -- quite unlike anything I've seen in the United States. ... Read more

Product Description
Against all odds - despite the aeroplane and the motor car - trains are still one of the best ways to travel to discover a country. In this book, six seasoned travellers share their discoveries and their pleasure in travelling by train. Mark Tully takes the Khyber Mail through Pakistan to the breathtaking Khyber Pass. Lisa St Aubin de Teran rediscovers South America. Clive Anderson explores China, Hong Kong and Mongolia. Prima ballerina, Natalia Makarova returns to Russia. Michael Palin travels through Ireland on the trail of his great grandomther Gallagher. Finally, Rian Malan, travels through South Africa to Bophuthatswana. ... Read more

Product Description
The exploits of an everyday man who decided to drop out of society for a year in order to see if the world is as exciting a place as Michael Palin makes it look on the television. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Pictures of people from pole to pole
This book should not be confused with the better-known "Pole to Pole" book written by Michael Palin.

Both this book ("Pole to Pole: The Photographs") and the other book ("Pole to Pole") are based on the BBC TV documentary done by Michael Palin. And both contain text by Michael Palin and photographs by Basil Pao, but they are two quite different books.

In "Pole to Pole" by Michael Palin there is approx. 80% text and 20% photographs. Michael Palin tells about the trip, day by day, and describes what he experienced and what he thought of it all.

In "Pole to Pole: The Photographs" by Basil Pao there is approx. 90% pictures and 10% text. Basil Pao's photographs show us how he saw the people and the places.

This book is a handsome coffee table book, large format (31 x 23 cm) and hardcover. Many of the photographs are beautiful and all of them are interesting. I was surprised by the large percentage (90%?) that feature people. The number of pictures that show landscapes or buildings or monuments are quite few.

One amazing statistic mentioned by Michael Palin in the introduction to this book is that Basil Pao took 30,000 pictures during the 5 1/2 months that the trip lasted! 30,000 pictures! That's approx. 850 rolls of film! That's approx. 200 pictures and 6 rolls of film every day! The mind boggles.

If you like pictures, and especially pictures of people, then this book is highly recommended.

Rennie Petersen

PS. For those who might be interested, I've written an Amazon "So You'd Like To" guide about Basil Pao and his participation in the Michael Palin trips and the books that have been produced by Basil Pao and Michael Palin. You can find it by clicking on my name and then finding the link to my "So You'd Like To" guides a little ways down on the left of my profile page. ... Read more

Product Description
An illustrated collection of limericks by the well-known English actor and screen writer. ... Read more

Product Description
A stunningly illustrated collection of first-hand accounts by the voyageurs that extended the boundaries of our knowledge. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The Explorers Eye
The book was purchased as a gift for someone else so I cannot comment on the content.
I can say, however, that it arrived promptly and in good condition. I was very happy with the service provided.

Judith Erskine ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (7)

Simply Fabulous
If you like British Humor like Monty Python and friends you will certainly appreciate these Calssics. All the episodes on this tape and the other two tapes are incredibly funny. I can't believe they are no longer available even on video, if that is the case...WHERE ARE THE DVD'S?

Comedic Glow of the Setting Imperial Sun
Michael Palin is what is called a 'national institution' in Britain. An ex-Python man, he is also renowned for the simple charm of a series of travel programmes -- Around the World in 80 Days, etc. -- where his good manners, stiff upper lip, and self-deprecating humour are his true passport.

Ripping Yarns was a series of 30-minute comical tales filmed for the BBC, written with the help of fellow Pythoneer Terry Jones. The name evokes the old fashioned qualities of endurance, bravery, and heroism that you might find in an old book for boys from the period of the British Empire, and, indeed, most of the tales are set in the past and start out as mock heroic tales.

Although these yarns from the late 1970s actually make fun of the virtues on which the British Empire was supposedly based, there is clearly a lot of affection for that lost World as well.

In episode one, 'Tompkinson's Schooldays,' Palin playing an unhappy student makes fun of the brutality of the English public school sytem. One reviewer said this wasn't your typical English public school because the headmaster gets caned, the students are made to fight with a grizzly bear or are nailed to a wall as punishment, and the most important person at the school is the school bully who apparently occupies some kind of official position. In a strange way, however, this range of comic devises captures the sado-masochistic essence of what an old-fashioned English public school was like. It was this kind of institution that built up the self-control, hierarchy, discipline, and genial brutality necessary to build up and adminster a great empire as well as two World Wars.

Speaking of World War, episode 2 - 'Escape from Stalag Luft 112B' - takes aim at POW movies, portraying the rigid habits and stiff upper lip so essential to the self-worth of British officers. The lifestyle of the officers and the pointless meanderings of the escape committee, which exists more as a gentleman's club than an effective escape committee, is ridiculed. Palin plays a prisoner who arrives at Stalag Luft 112B not quite knowing the social rules of the prisoner officer class and tries to escape without going through the proper channels. In an odd way this seems to be criticising the inefficiency of British industry in the 1970s, which, entangled with old-fashioned procedures and official red-tape, was in a steep relative decline.

This story also reflects some of the class tension that Palin probably felt in real life when he left his working class background in Yorkshire to mix with upper class types at Oxford. The third episode on the tape, 'Golden Gordon,' reflects this working class culture with Palin playing Gordon Ottershaw, a dedicated fan of the local and very unsuccessful football team, Barnestoneworth United. The plot is reminiscent of the Magnificent Seven with Gordon cycling all over the Yorkshire dales to reassemble a team of old great players to fend off an attempt to sell the team and its stadium to a scrap dealer.

These tales are not only endearing and heart-warming, they are almost historical documents of a Britain that is fast disappearing -- losing its culture to America and its economy to Europe.

Buy this video, you git!
Great stuff here. All 3 of the Ripping Yarns vids are excellent, & this, the first, is the strongest. Tomkinson's Schooldays & Golden Gordon are 2 of my favourite episodes from the series, & Escape From Stalag Luft 112B is right up there, too. Check it out.

Tompkinson?
This was just fantastic, by far the best of the Ripping Yarns!

MICHAEL PALIN AND TERRY JONES WRITE A WINNER!
If you like Michael Palin and Terry Jones in Monty Python, then you will like this video.This is the first of the Ripping Yarn series and I guarantee you will want to add the other two series as well to your videocollection.

Episode 1-Tomkinsons School Days (1913):Beating theheadmaster, fighting with a grizzly bear, and being nailed to the schoolwall.This isn't your typical English public school, but then you havenever attended Graybridge.Michael Palin has two roles.He plays the maincharacter Tomkinson, a young school boy who will do anything to escape fromschool.Michael also plays the head schoolmaster.Every school has abully, and Grayson is not only mean, but very well dressed.My favoritescene is where Tomkinson is in the school sanatorium (hospital), and hismom comes to visit.He begs his mother to let him come home and he looksand sounds so innocent.Terry Jones appears in this only episode as one ofthe teachers and the guest speaker.Later on Tomkinson gets into bigtrouble and is punished by doing the 30 mile hop.This is my favoriteepisode and has plenty of laughs.

Episode 2- Escape from Stalag Luft 112B(1917):In this episode the narrator tells us the story of Major EdwinPhipps.Major Phipps played by Michael Palin has attempted over 500escapes.Now in real life if you escaped from prison and was caught, youeither would be shot or punished.Instead, Major Phipps is sent to StalagLuft 112B, a prison camp for the privilege British officers. It's kind of asummer camp except with guards.The guards are funny characters, and so isthe General.Michael also has a small role as a blond hair solider whocries because his ex-wife got remarried.One thing I like about thisepisode is Major Phipps determination and how he makes an airplane out oftoliet roll holders.

Episode 3- Golden Gordon (1935):Michael Palinplays Gordon Ottershaw.Gordon is a very avid fan of his favorite Englishfootball team Barnestoneworth United.English football is soccer for usAmericans.His son is even named Barnestoneworth.He comes home after histeam loses and begins to throw things.He then takes off and begins tothrow things at the pub.He is very depressed and to make things worse theteam is being sold to a scrap company.Now what to do?He pedals his bikeall over the English countryside to bring the old team back.It's anepisode that is fun and Gordon's behavior reminds me when my favoritehockey team loses, but I don't go to the extreme of throwing things.Ifyou watch carefully, you may even spot an ex-Python.See the credits ifyou don't know who it is. ... Read more

Product Description
An English schoolboy is snatched into another world by the magician scientist Salaman, who forces him to brave underwater terrors in a quest for the priceless Mirrorstone. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Good Enjoyable Book
Mirrorstone is a good book that my son & I enjoyed reading.The illustrations are really superb.The story line is good and gripping at times.My son (7 yrs old) liked the book, but I thought that while the story was good, it could've been improved upon and little more thought through.
The storyline is about a modern boy who was brought into the past to retrieve the mirrorstone (magical mirror).Without giving too much of the plot, I think that given the basic storyline and the characters created to fullfill that story line, there could've been much more room for character development.
But even said all that, I thing that this book is one of the better "non chapter" books for young children.The illustrations are breath-taking (even as adult I enjoyed looking through the book), the holograms are really well done, and the story line, while not very complex, still point certain things out to the children. ... Read more

Product Description
When Major J. Bigglesworth receives a letter from an old wartime comrade asking for help, he responds at once. With his colleagues, Algy, Ginger and Flight Sergeant Smyth, Biggles flies to Alaska, where he discovers that ex-Squadron Leader Wilkinson is being menaced by a sinister character. ... Read more