True, this evolving series is the ultimate comfort read, but it's also much more than that: a social history of Britain spanning four decades, told with unflagging empathy and wit
- Jonathan Coe, Observer
Michael Palin knows what makes a good diary . . . it's his attention to the mundane, above all, that makes his diaries so enjoyable to read
Daily Telegraph
The dynamic [between the Pythons] remains eternally fascinating: there's a permanent tension and endless bickering, but also a huge, unshakeable love . . . [Palin is] less of a national treasure and more of a sacred monument
Waitrose Magazine
A friend's foolishness, his own fears, the minutiae of preparing for an overseas expedition, Palin writes it all down, so we know what happened and so he does as well . . . Perhaps that's why diaries are such an engaging literary form. Like our own lives they veer between the everyday and the profound
Radio Times
In the fourth volume of diaries from the Monty Python alumnus, we get to hang out with this thoughtful, amusing, affectionate, intellectually curious man over a decade . . . This is full of friends (numerous, often famous), funerals and fun
Saga Magazine