An Archipelago in Prose

I was predisposed to like Island: How Islands Transform the World. For one thing, I remember with pleasure one of J. Edward Chamberlin’s earlier books, If This Is Your Land, Where Are Your Stories?, which was nominated for, but inexplicably did not win, the Charles Taylor Prize for best non-fiction book of whatever year it was. That book was a mix of lyrical prose, tight argument, omnivorous reading (and therefore quotation), appealing digressions, true moral indignation and more. I remember wondering why I had not read more of Chamberlin’s work, and set out to do so. For another thing, I have been something of a collector of islands myself, having co-written one book about an island (that curious dune in the Atlantic called Sable Island, which gets a glancing mention here) and having lived on, and travelled to, a number of islands around the world (my favourite being São Tomé, off the west coast of Africa, interesting mostly because...