In February 2025, Michael Palin travelled to Venezuela to get a sense of what life is like in one of South America's most culturally rich, vibrant but also troubled nations.

In the journal he kept during his trip he gives a vivid account of the towns and cities he visited, the landscapes he travelled through, and the people he met.

Illustrated throughout with colour photographs taken on the trip, and permeated with his warmth and humour, this is a vivid and varied portrait of a complex country from the best-selling author and beloved travel writer.

Praise for Michael Palin:

'I cannot remember the last time I read a book so immediately absorbing and affecting.' Bill Bryson, bestselling author of A Short History of Nearly Everything

‘Stirring’ Daily Telegraph

'Everybody's talking about it . . . A brilliant book.' Chris Evans, BBC Radio 2

‘Tremendous’ Guardian

'I absolutely loved it: I had to read it at one sitting.' Lorraine Kelly, ITV Lorraine

‘Magisterial’ The Times

‘[a] winning mix of genuine interest, good-humoured charm and that deceptively steely nose for humbug’ Wanderlust

‘ [An] absorbing and beautifully illustrated day-by-day account’ Daily Mirror

Michael Palin has written and starred in numerous TV programmes and films, from Monty Python and Ripping Yarns to The Missionary and The Death of Stalin. He has also made several much-acclaimed travel documentaries, his journeys taking him to the North and South Poles, the Sahara Desert, the Himalayas, Eastern Europe and Brazil. His books include accounts of his journeys, novels (Hemingway’s Chair and The Truth) and several volumes of diaries. From 2009 to 2012 he was president of the Royal Geographical Society. He received a BAFTA fellowship in 2013, and a knighthood in the 2019 New Year Honours list. He lives in London.