Brazil by Michael Palin

Brazil by Michael Palin

Shortlisted for: Popular Non-Fiction Book of the Year - Specsavers National Book Awards 2012

Michael Palin journeys to a vast country of unimaginable contrasts - Brazil. An economic powerhouse, it is host to a staggering variety of peoples. He starts his journey in the north, in the remote mountains and forests on the border with Venezuela, and finishes in the south at the legendary Iguacu Falls. He travels by river-boat, float-plane and foot to visit tribes deep in the jungle, samples life in the agricultural and mining heartland of Brazil, experiences the modernism of Brasilia and the heady mix of Rio de Janeiro, and ventures into the favelas. He travels down the northeast coast with its African-inspired culture; to Sao Luis; Recife and Salvador, where Michael is swept up in Candomble. He heads to Sao Paulo, where the super-rich commute by helicopter; tastes German beer served from a motorcycle sidecar, and tries his hand at being a cowboy before journey's end beneath one of the most spectacular waterfalls in the world.

Michael Palin, a former member of the Monty Python troupe, is a self-proclaimed train enthusiast with numerous television credits including two films for the BBC's Great Railway Trips series, as well as the travel series Pole to Pole and Full Circle.