THE BOOK BEHIND THE HIT DOCUMENTARY A glimpse of life inside the world's most secretive country
as told by Britain's best-loved travel writer. In May 2018 former Monty Python stalwart and
intrepid globetrotter Michael Palin spent two weeks in the notoriously secretive Democratic
People's Republic of Korea a cut-off land without internet or phone signal where the
countryside has barely moved beyond a centuries-old peasant economy but where the cities have
gleaming skyscrapers and luxurious underground train stations. His resulting documentary for
Channel 5 was widely acclaimed. Now he shares his day-by-day diary of his visit in which he
describes not only what he saw - and his fleeting views of what the authorities didn't want him
to see - but recounts the conversations he had with the country's inhabitants talks candidly
about his encounters with officialdom and records his musings about a land wholly unlike any
other he has ever visited - one that inspires fascination and fear in equal measure. Written
with Palin's trademark warmth and wit and illustrated with beautiful colour photographs
throughout the journal offers a rare insight into the North Korea behind the headlines.
