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.



![O'hanlon, Redmond TRAVEL WRITING Redmond O'Hanlon: Congo Journey [2007] paperback](http://chaptersbookstore.com/cdn/shop/files/o-hanlon-redmond-redmond-o-hanlon-congo-journey-2007-paperback-1224399109_{width}x.jpg?v=1772231319)
![Caesar, Ed TRAVEL WRITING New Ed Caesar: The Moth and the Mountain: Shortlisted for the Costa Biography Award 2021 [2021] paperback](http://chaptersbookstore.com/cdn/shop/files/caesar-ed-ed-caesar-the-moth-and-the-mountain-shortlisted-for-the-costa-biography-award-2021-2021-paperback-9780241977255-58225968087379_{width}x.jpg?v=1740921604)
![Parks, Richard & Aylwin, Michael TRAVEL WRITING Beyond the Horizon: Extreme Adventures at the Edge of the World [2014] paperback](http://chaptersbookstore.com/cdn/shop/files/parks-richard-aylwin-michael-beyond-the-horizon-extreme-adventures-at-the-edge-of-the-world-2014-paperback-56917155414355_{width}x.jpg?v=1727670540)
![Kinsella, Ana TRAVEL WRITING Ana Kinsella: Look Here: On the Pleasures of Observing the City [2022] paperback](http://chaptersbookstore.com/cdn/shop/files/kinsella-ana-ana-kinsella-look-here-on-the-pleasures-of-observing-the-city-2022-paperback-60420035608915_{width}x.jpg?v=1734235687)
![Morris, Jan TRAVEL WRITING New Jan Morris: VENICE (MORRIS) [2004] paperback](http://chaptersbookstore.com/cdn/shop/files/morris-jan-jan-morris-venice-morris-2004-paperback-9780571168972-59069829906771_{width}x.jpg?v=1769784774)