• Fifty Remote Islands 7th Mar 2011

  There has been a lot of talk about books this week at Millican. Understandably, with World Book Day on Thursday and World Book Night last Saturday.

  We’ve all been putting our cases forward to justify why our book of choice should feature on the Millican hit list (see Millican’s top ten).

  Unsurprisingly, not one of us forwarded our recommendation in an electronic format.
  It’s hard to ignore the rise in tablets and I have to say it does lighten the load on my daily commute or trip away. E book sales almost doubled through 2010 and reportedly are set for further growth through 2011. But with many it seems that opinions are divided on the fate of the printed book.

  Are ebooks going to consume us all?

  Well, who knows. Ask Jorrit about a book and he’ll tell you about the smell, the feel, the knowledge its there on your bookshelf just waiting to be revisited.

  Here is one of those books that is quite simply for the purist.

  
  Judith Schalansky’s Atlas of Remote Islands, subtitled Fifty Islands I have not visited and never will.

  It combines elegant illustrations of fifty of the most remote and hostile islands on earth with narratives of their histories on the facing page.

  

  An acclaimed novelist and award-winning graphic designer, Judith has spent years creating her own imaginative atlas of the world’s loneliest places. These islands are so difficult to reach that until the late 1990s more people had set foot on the moon than on Peter I Island in the Antarctic for example.

  Perfect maps are accompanied by bizarre stories about the history of the islands themselves. Rare animals and strange people abound: from marooned slaves to lonely scientists, lost explorers to confused lighthouse keepers, to forgotten castaways.

  It is certainly one for the map lovers and proves that some of the most memorable journeys can be made from an armchair. Never underestimate a good book.

  Saying that, I’ve always thought Facebook would be better as a book …

  
  

  When Facebook becomes a book by Siavosh Zabeti on Vimeo.

  By Rob
  
  

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