Shortlisted for: Popular Non-Fiction Book of the Year - Specsavers
National Book Awards 2012
Michael Palin journeys to a vast country of unimaginable contrasts -
Brazil. An economic powerhouse, it is host to a staggering variety of
peoples. He starts his journey in the north, in the remote mountains and
forests on the border with Venezuela, and finishes in the south at the
legendary Iguaçu Falls. He travels by river-boat, float-plane and foot
to visit tribes deep in the jungle, samples life in the agricultural and
mining heartland of Brazil, experiences the modernism of Brasília and
the heady mix of Rio de Janeiro, and ventures into the favelas. He
travels down the northeast coast with its African-inspired culture; to
São Luís; Recife and Salvador, where Michael is swept up in Candomblé.
He heads to São Paulo, where the super-rich commute by helicopter;
tastes German beer served from a motorcycle sidecar, and tries his hand
at being a cowboy before journey's end beneath one of the most
spectacular waterfalls in the world.