In the autumn of 1988 Michael Palin set out from the Reform Club to circumnavigate the world, following the route taken by Phileas Fogg 115 years earlier. But if the rules were simple, nothing else was. Palin's Passepartout was not a loyal French manservant, but a five-person BBC film crew, there to record his every move. Fogg brought back a princess, Palin a lot of dirty laundry and a television series that stands as an unparalleled tribute to a man's ability to make life difficult for himself. This book is the story of and the story behind, the making of the series - a no-holds-barred account of a journey that turned into a hilarious Great Twentieth Century Adventure.

Shamelessly freeloading his way around the world, cadging free food and accommodation wherever and however he can, Brian Thacker is a 'couch surfer' par excellence. This is extreme travel at its most 'out there'.It's time to grab your passport, strap yourself in and join Brian as he travels through the Americas, Africa, India, Iceland and places in between, sleeping on floors and couches, under drum kits and in wardrobes; hanging out with some of the strangest, most charming, entertaining or just plain crazy people you could hope --- or perhaps hope not --- to meet.

'...no garden is an island. Context is everything.' From the floating gardens of the Amazon to the alpine flower meadows of Norway, from modest domestic gardens right in the heart of Havana to Monet's world-famous Giverny, Monty Don visits every continent and looks at some of the most beautiful, intriguing or unusual gardens in the world. Whether looking at minimalist gardens in Mexico which, to some, may feel more architecture than garden, or the romantic beauty of a traditional English garden, each one is placed in context. Horticultural preconceptions are abandoned and Monty is constantly surprised by the unexpected locations where gardens thrive. As Monty Don travels around the world, he approaches each garden with the questions: Why do people garden? Is the definition of a garden universal? And what makes each garden special?