From Albion to Shangri-La by Peter Doherty

Tenth Anniversary new edition

Many are unaware that Libertines front-man Peter Doherty is not only a terrific songwriter and performer but also a highly accomplished writer. Thin Man Press was thrilled to publish this, his second book. Still some copies left from the original, first edition – certainly a collector’s item by now!

FROM ALBION TO SHANGRI-LA

Peter Doherty’s Journals & Tour Diaries 2008 – 2013,

A pocket book for the wanderer & flâneur

With original illustrations by Peter Doherty.

Publication date: 26 September 2024

Best known as a musician, Peter Doherty has been in the writing habit for most of his life. Whether at home in Paris or London, or on tour, Doherty kept an anarchic catalogue – part stream of consciousness, part commentary – of his life, his career, his nightmarish addiction and the antics of his vagabond celebrity entourage.

Since the date of the first edition (2014), Doherty has cleaned up his act: free of his heroin addiction, married to long-term girlfriend Katia de Vidas and a Dad for the third time. It’s not an outcome many would have predicted back in those dark days in Paris and you have to admire the sheer guts and determination that got him free.

Most importantly for music fans, the Libertines are back… re-united and as powerful as ever with a new album out his year too: Check out All Quiet on the Eastern Esplanade

From Albion to Shangri-La is an unapologetic account by the misfiring romantic poet in full flow during the stuttering fame of his hedonistic, celebrity-fuelled lifestyle. This collection of uncensored words, accounts, thoughts and sub-conscious reflections from Doherty follows in the tradition of dangerous books by the likes of William Burroughs, Charles Bukowski, Alex Trocchi… all hailed now as great writers, yet back in the day their early titles courted an atmosphere of disapproval. Who would have thought accounts of junkies, thieves, sparring lovers and the forbidden rituals of a city would become a defining literary expression of a social era? The contents of Doherty’s journals have much in common with these works: the ebb and flow of consciousness; the (often narcotic) dream states and confessional meanderings; the incisive analytical observation; the vivid sex scenes; the beautiful prose-poetry; and last, but not least the alarming misadventures of an artist in full confession.

From Albion to Shangri-La is an important book for anyone from the post-Nirvana, Generation X Factor decade who dreamt of celebrity and fame but were too frightened or sensible to pursue it. Peter Doherty and his contemporaries (like Amy Winehouse and Peaches Geldof – both, sadly, no longer with us – who are both free-styling contributors to the book) epitomised the nihilism of the noughties. It captures the filth and the fury as well as the poetry and the pathos.

From Albion to Shangri-La by Peter Doherty, transcribed and edited by Nina Antonia, with original illustrations by Peter Doherty.

Buy the book on Kindle (with special illustrated supplement) here

ISBN 978-1-9997940-2-6
Paperback, 5.5 X 8.5 inches, 256 pages, RRP £16.99: available on Amazon and from all good book shops.
Kindle, i-book and all available e-book formats book £9.99. The e-book contains a supplementary illustrated section of artwork from the journals.