Islands
Searching for truth on the shoreline
Published on 11. October 2022
Book
Hardback
384 pages
978-1-78590-776-0 (ISBN)
Description
No man is an island, wrote John Donne. BBC Home Editor Mark Easton argues the opposite: that we are all islands, and it is upon the contradictory shoreline where isolation meets connectedness, where 'us' meets 'them', that we find out who we truly are.
Suggesting that a continental bias has blinded us, Easton chronicles a sweep of 250 million years of island history: from Pangaea (the supercontinent mother of all islands) to the first intrepid islanders pointing their canoes over the horizon, from exploration to occupation, exploitation to liberation, a hopeful journey to paradise and a chastening reminder of our planet's fragility.
But that is only half of this mesmerising book: aided by the muse he names Pangaea, Easton also interweaves reflections on what he calls 'the psychological islands that form the great archipelago of humankind'. Taking readers on an enchanting adventure, he illustrates how understanding islands and island syndrome might help humanity get closer to the truth about itself.
Brave, intelligent and haunting, Islands is a deep dive into geography, myth, literature, politics and philosophy that reveals nothing less than a map of the human heart.
Suggesting that a continental bias has blinded us, Easton chronicles a sweep of 250 million years of island history: from Pangaea (the supercontinent mother of all islands) to the first intrepid islanders pointing their canoes over the horizon, from exploration to occupation, exploitation to liberation, a hopeful journey to paradise and a chastening reminder of our planet's fragility.
But that is only half of this mesmerising book: aided by the muse he names Pangaea, Easton also interweaves reflections on what he calls 'the psychological islands that form the great archipelago of humankind'. Taking readers on an enchanting adventure, he illustrates how understanding islands and island syndrome might help humanity get closer to the truth about itself.
Brave, intelligent and haunting, Islands is a deep dive into geography, myth, literature, politics and philosophy that reveals nothing less than a map of the human heart.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Dimensions
Height: 144 mm
Width: 223 mm
Thickness: 37 mm
Weight
516 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-78590-776-0 (9781785907760)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
10/2022
Biteback Publishing
€17.99
Available for download
Person
Born in Glasgow in 1959, Mark Easton began his career in journalism at the Southern Evening Echo in Southampton in 1978. He joined the BBC as a reporter in 1986 before being appointed Political Editor at Channel 5 News in 1996 and Home and Social Affairs Editor at Channel 4 News in 1998. He returned to BBC News as Home Editor in 2004, a post he still holds. Mark's first book, Britain etc., was published in 2012. He is married with four children and lives in north London.