New Europe

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Author: Michael Palin
Publisher: Phoenix
Catalogue: 165644
Size: 13x20cm

In New Europe Michael Palin sets off to discover the half of Europe that until recently has been largely out of bounds. Shown in BBC TV documentaries, the famed travel writer and comedian explores 20 eastern European countries, encountering painful pasts and exciting prospects.

Palin's journey started with a simple idea: that only a couple of hours from home is a half of Europe that is for him as unknown and unexplored as the plateau of Tibet or the vastness of the Sahara. Cut off for most of his life by Cold Wars and Iron Curtains, Europe's eastern lands are now open for business. And it’s as much a voyage of discovery as any of Michael’s other journeys, as he finds himself in countries he’d barely heard of, many of them new names on the map, many unfamiliar and mysterious, all with tragic histories and much brighter futures.

Starting in the snows of the Julian Alps, on the borders of Italy and Slovenia, Palin heads east to discover the half of Europe he never knew. Heading down the ancient trade route of the Adriatic coast he turns north into the Balkans, gingerly picking themselves up after the vicious fighting of 1990s. Albania takes Palin into a different world of strongly eastern influence which he follows through Bulgaria, Macedonia, and into Turkey, where Europe and Asia meet. Turning north to Moldova and Romania, he follows the mighty Danube into Serbia and Hungary, the very heart of Europe, and on to Ukraine. A final sweep from north to south takes him through the Baltic States into Poland and across the Carpathian mountains into Slovakia, the Czech Republic and what was until recently East Germany.

Altogether Palin visits 20 countries, more than in his Himalaya and Sahara journeys combined. Throwing himself into local life with his usual reckless curiosity, he samples pig fat with a brandy chaser, meets Romanian lumberjacks, drives the 8.58 stopping train from Poznan to Wolsztyn, learns about mine-clearing in Bosnia, treads the catwalk at a Budapest fashion show and watches Turkish men wrestling in olive oil.

With striking photographs by Basil Pao, the book is a fascinating insight into a relatively uncharted territory. It’s New Europe, but vintage Palin.

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