A selection of essays, some perhaps apocryphal, about a selection of islands that are rarely discussed or even included on maps. Needless to say this is right up my alley and I thoroughly enjoyed it. ( )

The font of the entire book was hard for me to read. It made the book different but not easy. Each island had a story. Some of them were more interesting than others. Some of them seemed like they started in the middle of the story and were hard to follow then abruptly ended. Some I wanted to hear more of but there was nothing more to read. ( )

Schalansky's elegant work is inspirational, although the encounters between man and island found upon its pages are often disturbing. ( )

This is such a bizarre premise for a book - and yet likely to appeal to anybody who has ever been an Atlas Adventurer - someone who explored the world and their imagination using only an atlas. Well, I did that as a kid and even now, so the idea of vicariously exploring these oscure places appealed to me a lot. Vicariously at two removes, since the author hasn't been to any of them, either. (I have met people who've been to two of the places in this book, though.)

The design of the book is amazing, compressing a remarkable amount of geographical and historical information into two pages for each island whilst retaining clarity and aesthetic appeal, as all atlases should. I suspect researching such obscure places was also a challenge even with access to the power of the internet.

Elegent, interesting and unique; a fabulous book. ( )

Crazy concept, but with concise yet in-depth info, it works. Also, a nice story with each island. Finished 25.05.2020 at the NR. ( )