Hutchinson Heinemann, 176pp, £16.99
Sir Michael Palin, now aged 80, went to Iraq for his most recent travel series (and book). This is the moment when the reviewer reaches for the words ‘National Treasure’. wasn't having any of it: Palin he said is ‘more than this. He is one of this country's most distinguished men of letters.’ The dreaded NT is ‘patronising, twee and demeaning’, thundered West, and ‘distracts from the fact that he's one of the finest writers of our time, whose elegant and erudite prose is known for its rich, mellifluous yet uncluttered style’.
