Basil Pao has personally selected the very best of his thousands of magnificent photographs of the Sahara for this book Unique, 'behind-the-scenes' shots of Palin and the film crew - both on and off the job - add an extra dimension to the book Pao's previous photographic books POLE TO POLE and FULL CIRCLE have sold 26,000 and 22,000 copies respectively

Michael Palin established his reputation with MONTY PYTHON'S FLYING CIRCUS and RIPPING YARNS. His work also includes several films with Monty Python, as well as THE MISSIONARY, A PRIVATE FUNCTION, an award-winning performance as the hapless Ken in A FISH CALLED WANDA and, more recently, AMERICAN FRIENDS and FIERCE CREATURES. His television credits include two films for the BBC's GREAT RAILWAY JOURNEYS, the plays EAST OF IPSWICH and NUMBER 27, and Alan Bleasdale's GBH. He has written books to accompany his six very successful travel series, AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS, POLE TO POLE, FULL CIRCLE, HEMINGWAY ADVENTURE, SAHARA and HIMALAYA. He is also the author of a number of children's stories, the play THE WEEKEND and the novel HEMINGWAY'S CHAIR. Basil Pao took up photography in 1980, since when his work has appeared in books and magazines all over the world. Michael Palin is one of the most popular comic figures of our time, his exploits with the Monty Python team being the stuff of legend. It is as the adventurous traveller of his major television series, however, that he has acquired a vast and loyal following.

Countries visited include:; Gibraltar; Morocco; Algeria; Polisario - Western Sahara; Mauritania; Senegal; Mali; Niger; Libya; Tunisia