An exploration of isolation and connectedness based on thirty years of travel, from the Sunday Times bestselling author of Adventures in Human Being and Empire Antarctica

SHORTLISTED FOR WATERSTONES BOOK OF THE YEAR

In Island Dreams, Gavin Francis examines our collective fascination with islands. He blends stories of his own travels with psychology, philosophy and great voyages from literature, shedding new light on the importance of islands and isolation in our collective consciousness.

Comparing the life of freedom of thirty years of extraordinary travel from the Faroe Islands to the Aegean, from the Galapagos to the Andaman Islands with a life of responsibility as a doctor, community member and parent approaching middle age, Island Dreams riffs on the twinned poles of rest and motion, independence and attachment, never more relevant than in today's perennially connected world.

Illustrated with maps throughout, this is a celebration of human adventures in the world and within our minds.