Jan Morris : A Life - 'Breathtakingly good.' Michael Palin

Wonderful.' Paul Theroux
'Brilliant.' Simon Jenkins
'Superb.' Colin Thubron
'Breathtakingly good.' Michael Palin

A captivating authorised biography of the legendary writer Jan Morris.

She was the twentieth century. Who wouldn't want to write her biography?

When Jan Morris joined the 1953 Everest expedition and was first to get news of the ascent back to London, she became the most famous journalist in the world. So began a glittering career covering the Eichmann trial, interviewing Che Guevara and scooping the story of Suez collusion.

Morris transitioned in the early seventies and documented the experience in "Conundrum." She was a pioneer and her books, including "Venice" and the "Pax Britannica" trilogy, have inspired readers across the globe.

Here, renowned travel writer and biographer Sara Wheeler uncovers the complexity of this twentieth-century icon to reveal a mosaic of contradictions. Morris's work conjured the spirit of place, yet her late masterpiece "Trieste" celebrates 'the meaning of nowhere'; she was a Welsh nationalist who wasn't Welsh; a preacher of kindness with a cruel side.

This is a portrait of an astonishing life, and a scintillating story of longing, travel and never reaching home.