''Once a traveller, always a traveller, and as long as there were maps and guide books and airline schedules I was still fatally susceptible to the lure of the open road . . .''Brazil: a growing global superpower, the size of half a continent, home to some of the world''s most astonishing natural habitats. But despite having journeyed around the world and from pole to pole, Michael Palin had never explored this extraordinary country for himself. Here, he sets out to discover this vast and diverse nation in the adventure of a lifetime. Taking in shanty towns and waterfalls, pristine beaches and bustling cities, Brazil is the record of a journey of dazzling extremes.