New Europe by Michael Palin

New Europe Reviews

• 
  Maria Hill AKA MH Books

  I was a teenager when the Berlin wall came down and so my geography lessons learned in school were about a world where countries such as the USSR and Czechoslovakia existed. Unfortunately, as an adult, I never took the time to learn about these both New and very, very old Countries of Europe that have emerged now that communism has lost much of its stronghold. Fortunately for me, this is now changing as in my work we are beginning to collaborate more and more with these formerly Soviet countries (thanks to the EU). So I guess I really should have read this book a long time ago as, for instance, it might have helped to know a little about Albania before we started that collaboration last year.
  
  Written in 2006/7 Michael Pailin visited a lot the countries he too had heard very little of as part of a travel program he was making with the BBC. He writes with good humor and a genuine interest, hope and kindness for the places and people he meets along the way. The historical facts are interesting (though I see from another review that the Bulgarian history may be inaccurate). His hope that Europe can be unified by co-operation shines through the book (I am guessing from this he was anti Brexit).
  
  Unfortunately, though for my personal rating of the book, there were just too many countries and too much history to keep straight. I felt like I have felt when I have spent too long in a Museum or Art Gallery, I love the places at first but after a few hours my headaches from the information overload. Nevertheless, It has renewed my interest in traveling to every Country in the EU (and now those that are looking to join). It will also be a handy reference book for when I do so as it gives a snapshot in time of these countries, before the world recession but recently after communism. It will be interesting to see how my own opinions compare to Palin’s at the time.
• 
  Daren

  This is true to form of Palin's other, well known travel books. He travels pretty quickly through a lot of places, and touches on them briefly in his books, accompanied by good photographs to illustrate his story. In each place he picks an interesting place, or person, or event, and focusses on that primarily for the chapter on that city. It is successful in a fairly light way, and I often find that Palin's introduction is where he does his deepest theorising.
  New Europe is Palin's effort to catch up with those countries in Europe (Eastern Europe mainly) which have undergone the most change in the last decade. Completed in 2007, it is hard to reconcile that this book is already 10 years out of date.
  He touches on twenty countries, across a book approx 280 pages long, gives about 14 pages each, around a third of which are taken up by photos (By Basil Pao, as all of Palins travel books are). So a brief touch in each country (listed in the shelving above).
  
  I rated his earlier books when I joined Goodreads, and they mostly sit in 2 or 3 star slots (except Saraha, which I found a head above the rest at 4 stars). 2-3 stars for these books reflects that the enjoyed them, but didn't find them great. I guess one day I might re-read them, and might change my view, perhaps they are better than 2-3.
  For me, this was a good 3 star read.
• 
  Andrew

  I have always been a fan of Michael Palin - from the days of Monty Python to the first of his travels "Around the world in 80 days" he has always epitomised me of the civil British traveller (as compared to the uncivil ones who seem to grab all the terrible news stories). Someone who still accepts that there is a world out there full of wonder and beauty that not only do we know know about but which we had nothing to do with. Every time I see more about his travels I realise that the world does still hold wonders still to be discovered even in this age of constantly connected social media.
  
  Now I appreciate that this book is based upon the series from several years ago (like all the others of his travels) however this is the first time I have picked this book up. And I must admit it is still with the usual warmth, humour and sense of wonder that I have come to recognise as his style.
  
  This is an incredible journey around countries that are not on the other side of the world but might as well be considering how little we (and I mean I)know about them. Having only glancingly seen this world (I have made several business trips to Turkey and Poland) I realise that there is so much more to see - although I do fear that this world is rapidly vanishing for many reasons.
  
  I am just sad that in an age where separatism and xenophobia is on the increase there is still more to be gained from getting to know our neighbours than there is to building walls.
• 
  Rex Fuller

  For 123 days in 2006 and 2007, Michael Palin visited 20 countries that, except for Turkey, were formerly part of either Yugoslavia or the USSR. He covered some twelve thousand miles beginning in Slovenia, then moving down the Adriatic, through Turkey, swinging north to the remaining Balkans, on to Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic, then hopping up to the Baltics, then Poland, and finally to what used to be East Germany. The cultures of these places are as old as any. So the title, “New Europe,” only makes sense to a post-WWII frame of mind. And that topic, what-it-used-to-be-like-under-communism, is the typical conversation.
  
  The ironic, Monty Python-esque Palin that made his previous travel books so engaging is here, although not as frequently. Still he makes eye-wateringly beautiful places, both natural wonders such as the Curonian Spit in Lithuania and man-made sites such as Dubrovnik, seem personal and sometimes humorous. This is still worth your effort.
  
  By the way, Palin has done an unbelievably generous thing. He put together an amazingly well done website where one can read all of his travel books, unabridged and for free. Give “palinstravels.co.uk” a try.
• 
  W

  Michael Palin's account of his travels to the countries of Eastern and Central Europe which were once behind the iron curtain is interesting enough,though I didn't find it as compelling as two of his other books,Himalaya and Sahara.The voyage takes him to twenty one countries,most of them sharing a communist past and many of them now part of the European Union.The sheer number of countries visited doesn't allow for detailed exploration but there are some memorable bits,including his visits to Auschwitz and Romanian dictator Ceausescu's 1,000 room palace.
• 
  Vicky Hunt

  Peering Through the 'Small Clouds' of Prejudice across the Newest Borders in Europe
  
  Michael Palin's book from a little more than a decade ago has a simply stated title, but for a profound concept. Palin's work was heretofore unfamiliar to me. I discovered his books in the UK Marketplace on Audible (a separate log-in on the Audible app.) After a career in comedy, he became a presenter on BBC and a Travel Writer, traveling around the world for different books. In this one, he covered the entire swath of land that is Eastern Europe; from Slovenia up to Berlin and the Sea. Be prepared for a substantial amount of historic info for a travelogue, seeing that Palin covers such a large portion of country in a short time.
  
  Michael Palin covers every angle. He talks to people. Though he very humanly reveals a few of his own personal prejudices, he admits that they begin to fade away through his encounters with these 'new Europeans' who have been separated from him for forty-five years of his life by the former Soviet Union; by 'Iron Curtains and Cold Wars.'
  
  With visits to the typical cathedrals and museums, and a number of unconventional places as well, Palin even stops at one point to be bled by leeches. Why not?! 'When in Estonia do as the Estonians' apparently applies to leeching, or hirudotherapy as it is known. By the time he arrives in Poland, things are a bit more serious with visits to the concentration camps. Overall, this is an excellent source book for Eastern Europe from the Balkans to the Baltic.
  
  I will definitely need to read more of Palin's work in the future. I will share a few quotes, and leave the rest for you to discover, should you pick up this very good book. I read this in the Audible with Kindle not-quite-whisper-synced, since the Audible was from a different market.
  
  

  "I had always imagined this dreadful place to be utterly isolated in some apocryphal landscape, yet there are houses not half a mile from the camp, and quite substantial houses too, with balconies that look out at the evening sun..."

  
  
  

  "Dresden, the capital of Saxony, the city we are approaching in low sunlight on a fast autobahn, which stands, alongside Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as a synonym for the worst and darkest excesses of aerial destruction."

  
  
  

  "...some people still have the Wall in their heads…that even seventeen years after reunification there is still segregation between the eastern part and the western part, and it will probably take another generation to get rid of that Wall.’"
• 
  thereadytraveller

  New Europe by Michael Palin is the companion book to the TV-series of the same name which was filmed in 2006 and early 2007. As the name suggests, Palin visits those countries in what used to be called Eastern Europe, as they look increasingly to the west and inclusion within the European Union. Told with Palin's usual witty style, this is an enjoyable whirlwind tour that takes you through 20 countries that once were on the other side of the iron curtain.
  
  Starting out in the Julian Alps on the border of Italy and Slovenia between what Palin has grown up knowing as the division between Western and Eastern Europe, Palin sets off to discover the countries who increasingly will hold greater sway over European affairs going forward.
  
  Accompanied by his film crew, Palin's journey takes place over a split period of 22 weeks during a 12 month period, so as to mostly avoid the winter months. Had the journey taken place prior to 1990, Palin would've only needed to visit ten countries, but such has been the subsequent upheaval that instead his journey takes in some 20 countries. Written from diary notes taken during filming, the book presents itself in a contiguous fashion over the 123 days that he is on the road. As each day represents on average less than 3 pages, and each country roughly 15 pages, it doesn't, however, afford much time for Palin to provide an in-depth commentary or analysis.
  
  Instead, we're left with a large number of initial impressions, and once over lightly history lessons which are intermingled with his interactions with the people with whom he meets. Of course, given the primary medium for expression being a major TV series, the majority of encounters he has with the locals are of course manufactured, rather than occurring by genuine circumstance. However, such is the strength of Palin's humour and storytelling, that this matters little to the overall quality of the offering.
  
  Visiting such a large number of uniquely different countries ensures that there is a wide range of interesting encounters for both the book and TV series. Whether it is having conversations with transsexual gypsies in Bulgaria, watching belly dancers in Turkey or discussing important matters with Ukranian or Polish politicians, Palin serves up these offbeat experiences in an amusing, yet dignified manner.
  
  Palin has put together quite a number of these types of TV series/book combos before, including Around the World in 80 Days, Himalaya, Full Circle and Pole to Pole. If you've actually seen any of these before, you will probably find yourself hearing Palin's very distinctive voice in your own mind when reading New Europe, which I found quite amusing. His considerable experience leads to New Europe having a slick and nicely manicured feel to it. This is PG-rated professional tourism travel literature, where the writing is extremely solid, even if slightly devoid of any genuine spontaneity. Yet, it's a real easy book to settle back in the sofa with while slipping off your slippers and a supping on a good cup of tea in the knowledge that you will be well entertained.
• 
  Rosamund

  Well... re-reading this was an entirely difference experience to
  10 years ago!
  
  When I wrote that, I was 17, had spent a week in Berlin the previous summer and fallen head over heels with it. However, I had to face the reality of one more year in my small town in arguably one of the most isolated parts of England, where my closest connection to "Eastern Europe" was the kids of Polish and Lithuanian migrant workers at my school who mainly kept to themselves. These were countries that I'd barely paid any mind to, never mind ever thought of visiting. One thing was certain in my mind, though: by having been to Berlin, I'd got my foot in the door to this mysterious part of the world. I maintained the fascination and hope of returning wherever I could, by continuing to learn German and dabbling in Russian.
  
  Fast-forward to 2019, and not only have I been living in Berlin for the past five years, I have also visited many of the countries and cities explored by Michael Palin in this book. Therefore, much of the mystique that made this book so appealing to me back then is gone.
  
  More than anything, though, this book made me feel rather sad, because it was all before the 2015 refugee crisis and 2016 Brexit vote, which respectively emboldened fascists all over Europe and signified the general trend of right-wing politics all over the world. For example, at the time of writing, a lot of the places were not yet EU member states, but of their pending memberships, Palin wrote in the introduction, 'After a century of power struggles which have visited unimaginable horrors upon the continent this coming-together is breathtakingly fresh and promising' — this is the thesis upon which the 123-day trip is founded. At the end of the book, Palin reflects on how this Europe could finally be united by co-operation and not conflict. The tone of the book manages to be not naively optimistic, but it was certainly sobering whenever I came across passages like those, especially in the chapter on Hungary.
  
  With that in mind, it's still an enjoyable and accessible read, especially for incurable Europhiles who want to indulge in a snapshot of that moment before things went to shit. It's a good crash course of all those European countries formerly tucked away behind the Iron Curtain. It will fill lots of gaps in knowledge as well as give a refresher on more well-known events. I still have a lot to see.
• 
  Chloë

  bill bryson wishes WISHES he were michael palin but then don't we all?
  i've had this book for years and im finally reading it in a time when traveling isn't possible but michael's descriptions of the people he met and the history of the places he visited in europe were a great escape.
  i think this book is best read in one or two goes, or you just lose steam with it, or i did at least.
• 
  Rosamund

  Michael Palin is a legend, an all-round national treasure. And this account of his travels around the former Commie states - New Europe - increased my curiosity and fascination all the more, and only fed my wanderlust. He is a wit too (well, Monty Python of course). One of my favourite parts?
  
  "We take a coffee break at the self-consciously literary Café Wilde, who published the first medical textbooks in Estonian. This doesn't stop them having a bronze sculpture of Oscar Wilde, seated on a bench outside. The current owner of the café believes that the Irishness of Oscar Wilde resonates with Estonians. Both countries are on the edge of the continent, both love singing and mythology and both have been transformed by the cyber-revolution."
• 
  Maison Koala

  L’anno nuovo inizia per me con un bel twist avventuroso, in Val di Susa in compagnia del documentarista inglese ed ex Monty Python Michael Palin.
  
  Mentre la neve scarseggia, le giornate si allungano…e la variante Omicron ahinoi dilaga, mi sono letteralmente divorata un gustoso reportage di viaggio:
  
  20 nazioni in poco più di 120 giorni, venti fragili repubbliche post-sovietiche e post Guerra Fredda raccontate con l’occhio vigile del reporter e il tocco di humour dissacrante del vero Englishman.
  
  Ricchissimo di riferimenti storici, il libro si compone di brevi capitoli che sono al contempo densi e godibilissimi, nonché un inserto fotografico a colori targato Basil Pao, fotografo di viaggio di fama mondiale.
  
  Consigliato a chi non è immune al fascino un po’ decadente di una certa est Europa ed attendeva con ansia le ore di storia e geografia.
• 
  G. Lawrence

  Listened to the audio version.
  
  My favorite of the travelogues of Palin, along with Pole to Pole. In some ways this is now modern history, as this is the Europe I grew up with, now a Europe of the past. Some feels most poignant now, given the war in Ukraine and Brexit. Well read, interesting and educational. Highly recommend
• 
  Nikolay

  Despite some big historical inaccuracies about Bulgaria which I couldn't help noticing as a Bulgarian, it was a somehow enjoyable read.
  I don't know how much of the historical facts about the other countries included might have been false, but I guess it comes with the book - after all it's a more or less personal opinion, or at least a personal view mixed with the views of the staff the author worked with.
  
• 
  Jan

  Komt niet zo vaak voor dat ik een boek niet uitlees maar dit is er zo een. Leek veelbelovend: de beroemde Palin die in 1990 door Oost- en Zuid-Europa reist. Het is het net niet. Ik las tegelijk een stukje uit een boek uit vrijwel dezelfde tijd van Lieve Joris over Hongarije. Veel sprankelender, de mensen die ze ontmoet gaan voor je leven.
• 
  Nicholas Whyte

  
  https://nwhyte.livejournal.com/2894982.html
  
  This is a book-of-a-TV-programme, made in 2006/7 by Palin as one of his travelogue series, taking in all the former Communist countries of Eastern Europe, plus Turkey, minus most of Russia (represented briefly by Kaliningrad). An average of 14 pages per country doesn't get you very much insight, especially since in several cases he has to divert to do something touristy that will look good on the small screen (leeches in Estonia, for instance) rather than actually exploring what is going on in a particular society. I guess this is inevitable for the kind of book it must be, but it's not Patrick Leigh Fermor. I might have enjoyed it more if I'd known less about the countries in question.
  
• 
  Margaret

  Em 2006 e 2007, Michael Palin decidiu aventurar-se pelos países da “Nova Europa” - a Europa que, durante décadas, se manteve escondida por trás da Cortina de Ferro, sob o jugo de regimes comunistas repressivos.
  
  Embora este livro possa ser considerado “datado” – alguns dos países que visita aguardavam ansiosamente pela entrada na Comunidade Europeia e, atualmente, são membros de pleno direito, com outras condições de vida – Michael Palin é excelente a explorar os sonhos, as frustrações e as recordações dos habitantes destes países. Penso que é esta dimensão humana que torna o livro tão apelativo. O autor parece ser um amigo a contar-nos histórias, intercaladas com peripécias pessoais, e a escrita torna-se muito viciante.
  
  Vou descobrir mais obras de Michael Palin, porque gosto muito de ouvir o que este “meu amigo” tem para dizer.
  
• 
  Declan Waters

  Palin tells the story of his series across the old Iron Curtain and into the new European states left behind by the USSR. As I grew up (partially) with the Iron Curtain in place, it was a very interesting view at what has changed, and at countries I may not have considered visiting because of out-of-date perceptions.
  
  The book itself is now of course out of date, with many of the countries visited having now joined the EU and the Euro, but it was interesting none-the-less and told in Palin's trademark humour and humility.
• 
  Roger Woods

  Published in 2007 to accompany Sir Michael Palin's trip round eastern Europe filmed for television between May 2006 and 2007 this book consists of his diary notes during his 20 country adventure from Slovenia to Germany. Reading it now makes you realise how fragile politics can be as there have already been many changes in these countries. Europe is not as united as was thought and the UK has decided to leave the European Union. Nothing stands still however much we think it does.
• 
  Andy Irwin

  Listened via Audible
  Loved: conversations with interesting people; Michael’s narration; learning interesting things about, for example, Moldovan politics that I’d never previously thought to examine; and the review of a Turkish wrestling match 👌
  
  Could have done without: Michael’s generic “eastern European” accent for every encounter with a person from anywhere between Germany and Turkey; and the almost breakneck speed with which the narration moved through some countries.
• 
  Seb Leaver

  New Europe (2007)
  
  I started listening to this audio book as a way to compare what Michael Palin saw in Europe to my travels in Europe that I'm currently doing,
  And it was so interesting and fun in that way, and definitely recommend it to anyone keen on traveling Europe though you likely won't be taking his route, it's nice to hear his opinions as you can compare them against your own.
  
  A great narrator and comedian I did very much enjoy this book.
• 
  Geraldine

  Classic Michael Palin, with his experiences of a journey of several months in Central - Eastern Europe. While it is clearly a journey taken at a particular moment, there are some themes which have greater longevity than descriptions of particular areas.
• 
  Andy Gore

  In the light of the current conflict in the Ukraine this is a very poignant book, especially his chapters on the Ukraine. There is almost a sense of wistfulness about it of future possibilities that today seem so far away whether due to conflict or Brexit. This is why it is such a good read too.
• 
  Brian Richards

  Good read; however, a very short and disappointing section on Slovakia.
• 
  Conrad Toft

  I normally enjoy Palin’s travel books but I found this one quite dreary. It could be because I know many of the countries well and felt that the coverage was too superficial.
• 
  Mikki

  I enjoyed learning about the history of the countries he covered...how they became the way they are in relatively modern times. But I wish it were published more recently.