Pole to Pole

This travel narrative records a journey from the North Pole to the South Pole, following the line of 30 degrees east as closely as ships, trains, and borders allow. Palin moves from the Arctic into the late Soviet north, then through Europe and Turkey into Africa, and finally to the Antarctic. Daily entries cover transport failures, official paperwork, chance meals, and the people who help or hinder the route. The book is a companion to a filmed expedition, written as a sequence of places rather than as a thesis about any one country. It is travel reportage, not a novel and not a polar-science monograph.

By the author. 24 pages of colour plates, mono motifs. 5 monochrome maps. Bound grey cloth, cover printed with a colour design by Sara Mulvanny. Mid-blue slipcase front printed with a silver image.