Imagination Island

Download or read book The Island in Imagination and Experience written by Barry Smith and published by Saraband. This book was released on 2022-01-01 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From Treasure Island to Robben Island, from the paradise of Thomas More's 'Utopia' to Napoleon's purgatory on Elba, islands have proved irresistible to mankind's imagination since time immemorial. Self-confessed islomaniac Barry Smith explores how islands bewitch us so, and examines the kind of human experiences that islands inspire. Journeying all around the globe to take in the most fascinating stories of Earth's half a million islands, this book considers the unique geography, politics and economics of islands and their cultures. It traces their singular place in literature, religion and philosophy, and disentangles the myths and the facts to reveal just why islands exert such an insistent grip on the human psyche. 'Fascinating and wide-ranging.' Island Review 'A fascinating survey of the interplay between those little dots of land and the human imagination... Smith is excellent on the ways in which islands have always been pawns in geopolitical games...witty.' Geographical "Magisterial... A harrowing, enthralling piece of work that bears comparison with John Prebble's equally dense, equally passionate classic, The Highland Clearances ... [A] fascinating, scrupulous, angry, scholarly book." Jim Perrin, The Great Outdoors