Unexpurgated recent personal journals and tour diaries documenting the turbulent life and misadventures of Libertines and Babyshambles frontman, Peter Doherty. The book hit headlines upon release in July 2014, not least because of entries about the rock star's famous, often tragic, friends including Peaches Geldof, Amy Winehouse and a certain supermodel.
Truthful, provocative and sensitive, ‘From Albion to Shangri-La’ chronicles six tumultuous years (2008 - 2013) in the life of Peter Doherty in entries from his personal notebooks and tour diaries.
It is an intimate portrait of one of the most complex, yet gifted English musicians. Peter Doherty puts his 'horrible' addiction, love life, friendships and character under the poetic microscope of his own soul.
‘From Albion to Shangri-La’ is the first truly revealing autobiographical account of this enigma. Peter's previous book consisted of facsimiles of pages from earlier journals. About his own paradoxical character, Peter writes ‘I will be found a stranger in my own skin. Wonder how I ever let myself in?’
Peter illustrates the notebooks with his own drawings. Although Thin Man Press did not include all of these in the paperback version, the illustrations available can be seen in the Kindle version and are available on request to foreign publishers, with the possibility of reproducing them
Peter is in the habit of leaving his personal notebooks open for friends and fans to write in; ‘From Albion to Shangri-La’ contains poignant entries by Amy Winehouse and Peaches Geldof.
The last section of the book consists of excerpts from Peter’s tour diaries; they are a vivid, often hilarious, account of life on the Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll road: ‘The morning presented thousands of £’s worth of damage and...perhaps damage to the heart of a (wait for it) blue-eyed, blush-cheeked divinity called…..oh does it matter?'
The book concludes with an exclusive interview with Peter Doherty by Nina Antonia.
‘From Albion to Shangri-La’ will appeal to Doherty/Babyshambles/Libertines fans - and as the Libertines have just re-formed and are about to release a new album on EMI-Virgin, these fans will number millions - as well as to anyone who enjoys a fascinating story from the Rock and Roll jungle, told well and with sensitivity, poetry, humour and wit by one of this century's great flaneurs.
