Instead of travelling cross-country, Mad Max-style, with driving beer and guns, we were going to be following the Lonesome Dove trail, from widescreen Texas all the way up the plains of Montana.

It's the 40th anniversary of the publication of Larry McMurtry's Pulitzer-winning novel, 'Lonesome Dove.' If you've not read this brilliant novel, it is time to do so. You won't be sorry.