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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.
Mark Easton's Britain Etc.looks at the UK through its relationship
to 26 subjects - one for each letter of the alphabet. From Alcohol,
Beat Bobbies, Cheese and Dogs through Immigration, Justice, Knives
and Murder to the Queen, Umbrellas, Vegetables and the Zzzz of a
well-deserved rest, the book's meticulously researched but
accessible essays map the back-story of contemporary Britain. With
each lettered chapter, the reader is invited to look at the United
Kingdom in a new way: standing back to see our small islands in a
global or historical context, and then diving down to scrutinise
vital details that may be overlooked. Taken together, the essays
reveal a Britain that cannot be seen through the prism of daily
news or current affairs. A park, a wedding, a beggar and a carrot
all take on new significance once you have read Britain Etc. Having
been in the centre of world's consciousness as the UK welcomed
millions of visitors to its shores for the Olympics and the Diamond
Jubilee celebrations, this is a book that offers insight into the
psyche of Britain; a nation's obsessions, prejudices, values and
idiosyncrasies. What sort of place is it, what are the natives
like, and how did we get to where we are?
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