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Amazon.co.uk Review
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
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Only 300 miles from the Sahara Desert there is a place where brass bands play, warm beer is served and a blue lamp marks the police station. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
94 of 98 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Back in form!,
By A Customer
This review is from: Sahara (Hardcover)
While I was skeptical of Palin's last effort (Palin's Hemingway Adventure), this book proves not only a delight, but also reflects an unexpected maturity in his writing.Gone are the quick quips of the early volumes -- welcome as they were then, they would seem like worn-out comedy sketches if he still used them today. Instead, he's grown into a reflective travel writer of some note, who deserves to be on the best-seller list not only because of the TV tie-in, but on the merits of this book alone. As a Yank, I won't see the series for a year or more, but after reading his good work here, I can hardly wait.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another excellent insight into the back of beyond,
By ralabaf (UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Sahara (Hardcover)
Palin is the master of travelling to wonderful places that even the most ardent backpacker will never reach and yet he manages once again to bring life into the most inhospitable of locations. Whether it’s eating camel with displaced people, watching the Dakar Rally from a sand dune or sharing a meal with a national poet, Michael Palin writes and narrates in a fashion that allows you to drift into complete absorption and feel like you’re right there with him. Don’t be surprised if you find sand in your socks.Sahara is his latest expedition into the unknown and builds strongly on previous voyages around the Pacific Rim, from North to South Pole and the original grand journey, Around the World in Eighty Days. Best experienced as a follow up to the TV series of the same name, the book allows the reader to relive the places seen in more depth than TV permits and the opportunity to savour some fantastic photography. At Amazon’s reduced price, this book is well worth a buy. Read it in long absorbed sessions, or read it in short chunks, but read it. Palin takes you to the back of the back of beyond. Far away from the world of the normal travel writer and right into the homes and lives of the people he meets. Whether they’re living in shacks make from old oil drums hammered flat, or sharing a library with a cockerel, all of the characters that he meets are real and full of life. Share their lives. Read Sahara.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The best of a jolly good bunch,
By A Customer
This review is from: Sahara (Hardcover)
The best of Michael Palin's travelogues by far. "Sahara" takes Palin and his filming crew though countries, districts and towns that feature little in popular travel writing. His explanation of, for example, the isuues and people of Western Sahara is very well done indeed.Safaran Africa is most often featured in print and on television because of its negative aspects, for example poverty and conflict. Indeed these feature widely in the book but the overwhelming impression left is of amazingly the diverse and complex culture of the area. Aside from Palin's excellent writing, this book could stand on the quality of its photography alone. It eclipses many "coffee table" art books. My best Christmas present of 2002!
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