Great-Uncle Harry:  A Tale of War and Empire by Michael Palin

Original version

BBC Radio 4 FM

BBC Radio 4 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced BBC Home Service.

BBC Radio 4

Radio 4

Radio 4 (FM)

BBC Radio 4 LW

Great-Uncle Harry: A Tale of War and Empire by Michael Palin: Episode 1

Great-Uncle Harry: A Tale of War and Empire by Michael Palin

Episode 1

BBC Radio 4 - Great-Uncle Harry: A Tale of War and Empire by Michael Palin, Episode 1

Michael Palin tells the tale of his great-uncle, who was killed in the First World War.

When Michael Palin first heard that his grandfather had a brother, Harry, who was killed in the First World War, he was determined to find out more about him.

From the time, many years ago, when Michael Palin first heard that his grandfather had a brother, Harry, who was killed in the First World War, he was determined to find out more about him. 

The quest that followed involved hundreds of hours of painstaking detective work. Michael dug out every bit of family gossip and correspondence he could. He studied every relevant official document. He made use of his great-uncle Harry’s diaries, letters and postcards, and pored over photographs of First World War battle scenes to see whether Harry appeared in any of them. He walked the route Harry took on that fatal, final day of his life amid the mud of northern France. And as he did so, a life that had previously existed in the shadows was revealed to him.

A blend of biography, history, travelogue and personal memoir, Great-Uncle Harry is a compelling account of an ordinary man who led an extraordinary life.

Michael Palin has written and starred in numerous TV programmes and films, from Monty Python and Ripping Yarns to The Missionary and The Death of Stalin. His much-acclaimed travel documentaries have taken him to the North and South Poles, the Sahara Desert, the Himalayas, Eastern Europe and Brazil. His books include accounts of his journeys, novels (Hemingway’s Chair and The Truth), and several volumes of diaries. From 2009 to 2012 he was president of the Royal Geographical Society. He received a BAFTA fellowship in 2013, and a knighthood in 2019.

In today’s episode, Michael Palin explains how he first got to hear about his great-uncle, and goes on to describe his early life as the seventh child of a well-to-do Herefordshire vicar.

Abridged by Libby Spurrier
Producer: David Blount
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

Audiobooks

Podcasts

Factual

Book of the Week. Michael Palin tells the tale of his great-uncle, who was killed in the First World War, in a blend of biography, history, travelogue and personal memoir.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Great-Uncle Harry: A Tale of War and Empire by Michael Palin

Episode 1

Genres

Series

BBC Radio 4 FM

About BBC Radio 4