The Age of Islands: In Search of New and Disappearing Islands

by Alastair Bonnett

From a 'crannog', an ancient artificial island in a Scottish loch, to the militarised artificial islands China is building in the South China Sea, from the disappearing islands that remain the home of Native Central Americans, to the ritzy new islands of Dubai, from Hong Kong and the Isles of Scilly to islands far away and near, all have urgent stories to tell. Alastiar Bonnett has a deep knowledge of history and contemporary geopolitics and is a seasoned traveller with a writer's eye for telling detail. He gives us a tour of our terrifying but often beautiful new world. New islands are being built at an unprecedented rate whether for tourism or territorial ambition, while many islands are disappearing or fragmenting because of rising sea levels. It is a strange planetary spectacle, creating an ever-changing map which even Google Earth struggles to keep pace with. In his book the explorer and geographer Bonnett takes us on a compelling tour of the world's newest, most fragile and beautiful islands on an ambitious journey by wing, sail, rubber and road as he respectfully drags geography back to its roots.

Genres: Nonfiction, Travel, History, Geography, Essays, British Literature, Science

256 pages, Paperback

Published July 1, 2021

About the author

Alastair Bonnett is a professor of social geography at Newcastle University. He is the author of several books, including What Is Geography?, How to Argue, Left in the Past, and The Idea of the West. He has also contributed to history and current affairs magazines on a wide variety of topics.

Reviews

[Jeanette]

This is a DNF. I sped read more than 1/2 and would never give this more than 1.5 stars on my most generous day. It has little at all to do with science, physical geography or definitive life cycles of islands, IMHO.

It was taken for the cover serendipity and I should have read the back flyleaf. "Social geography" Professor? Huh? The colored photos are high quality in process/ tech. and are less than 1 star in subject matter. I can't believe you would posit some of these places as he did for such photos' "worth". It would be in comparison similar to taking pictures of Marilyn Monroe's big toe as cored for a study of her "best part". LOL!

The voice is all about his trips and feelings in major word count. I don't even think he has his core definition of an island correct either, the more I consider this overall "take". Think new age dogma meets Marilynne (Marianne some days) Robinson prose.

For me the creepy factor got so huge by the end of 30 pages that I probably would not even place this into the genre I believed it belongs in present classification.

This is beyond strange. It's weird. And not in a interesting way either. Rather like giving inanimate objects souls while exhibiting a rather quirky stream of mental illness by emoting and talking to them. While you supply both sides of the conversation. Imagination coupled with humongous ego.

[Boudewijn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ook ik heb 'iets' met eilanden. Wat dat dan precies is, geen idee maar ik ga er altijd graag naartoe om even mijn zinnen te verzetten. Zo ook Alastair Bonnett, die het naar eigen zeggen een "uit de hand gelopen hobby noemt" of, als we zijn dochter mogen geloven, een uit de hand gelopen "mid-life crisis".

In dit boek volgen we Alastair op zijn rondreis naar verschillende eilanden op de wereld, van Tonga tot kunstmatig opgespoten eilanden voor de kust van China en Panama. En de Flevopolder, wat Alastair kennelijk ook als een eiland beschouwd.

Het boek wist mij niet te bekoren. Het miste een soort van romantische bevlogenheid á la Boudewijn Büch met zijn boeken over eilanden maar was door de persoonlijke invalshoek ook niet echt een non-fictie boek á la Omringd door water. Het resultaat was eerder een rommelige beschrijving van de reis van de auteur, omgeven door niet al te pakkende beschrijvingen van boorplatformen en opgespoten eilanden.

[Val · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not what I anticipated, yet still had some interesting nuggets that had me fairly shocked. I certainly don’t doubt the author’s passion on the topic, albeit a bit difficult to connect with in many parts. I simply wish I would have learned less about the man-made islands (which take up the majority of the work) and more about all aspects of climate change on existing/natural islands.

[Nick S · Rating 4 out of 5]

It started off a bit slow, but improved a lot after the introduction, in my opinion. The section on Tonga and Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha`apai, written coincidentally within a year or so before the 2022 eruption, was particularly informative. After reading it, it’s more clear why the eruption and tsunami had such a damaging impact.

As other people have commented I think it would’ve been better to devote more of the book to natural islands than artificial ones, but I did enjoy the book.

[Nicole Means · Rating 4 out of 5]

Humans have a very interesting problem to solve— hundreds of islands continue to disappear because of climate change and, on the other hand, islands are being constructed that contribute, rather than resolve the issue. Countries like Dubai and China are leading the movement but what is the long-term plan? How is this process sustainable for resource allocation and equity when so there is already a huge discrepancy among countries?
Although the author provides no real solutions, he does provide numerous scenarios to remind us that we are not invincible and those who are suffering the make are those who are not permitted to sit at the “international table.” As a global community, we have to do better.

[Mary Elliott · Rating 4 out of 5]

8

[Druckund Prestige · Rating 4 out of 5]

sehr schönes Prisma. Zeigt an einem Thema verschiedene Aspekte von Mensch-Natur-Beziehung, Klimakrise, Wohlstandsverteilung … und witzig geschrieben: Mischung aus Reisebericht und Geografiesachbuch

[Stephen Dunstan · Rating 2 out of 5]

In places there is some great writing, but it's rather overwhelmed by worthy and factual but somewhat lifeless stuff. The ending felt like a bit of an anti-climax, particularly the last couple of sentences. It was ok.

[Claudia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Humans creating islands or expanding islands is not a modern occurrence. Ellis Island was expanded with ships' ballast and the debris from the NYC subway excavations. Nan Madol, a sacred island built in 7th century Micronesia. Japan in the early 1600's built artificial islands for their interactions with the Dutch since they didn't want them on Japanese soil. Ancient Scottish Crannogs.

And Alastair Bonnet is a huge fan of islands - be they new or ancient. He explores the reasons why we build new islands - mostly for more territory for an increasing population, for territorial expansion into possibly disputed areas, for tourism money by selling extravagant and limited holiday homes or construction of commercial properties like airports, mines or military bases.

The "naturally" building islands where ocean currents are dumping sand on certain sides of current outcroppings increasing their size or connecting with others, to the water-filled abandoned quarries which give new home-owners lakefront property, the so-called 'trash islands' that inhabit ocean vortexes. And don't forget the new islands being built up from volcanic eruptions deep beneath the sea - Surtsey off the coast of Iceland as well as the baby Hawaiian island of Lo'ihi.

But on the other hand, he then looks at the land that is disappearing - focusing on the San Blas Islands off the coast of Panama which is the home of the Kuna people, two islands that are part of Tonga as well as the Isles of Scilly which are not only being eroded by rising water levels from climate change but the ground is subsiding due to glacial rebound from thousands of years ago. The Scillies were once a much larger island but all that is left of that prehistoric land is the mountaintops which are the current islands - water travel between the five was dangerous due to underwater features supposedly up through the Tudor period of England.

And then there is the future - seasteading, the Dogger Bank Power link Island - anchored over the sunken Doggerland area of the North Sea - and the East Lantau Metropolis in Hong Kong which is getting a lot of pushback not only due to the possible disruption/destruction of a sacred forest but political concerns as mainland China continues to expand control of the city.

An intriguing look at the islands especially as humanity is getting more focused on the dangers to our coastal areas from rising waters as well as the appeal that humans have for these most beautiful and yet fragile geological features.

2020-139

[Tim Chamberlain · Rating 3 out of 5]

An engaging book that manages to deftly combine Bonnett's academic interests with personal anecdotes on the subject of ‘islanding.’ As such, it can be read as an informed introduction to a broader topic of geographical inquiry, or as a straightforward travelogue focussing on the specific themes that characterise the human fascination and aptitude for creating ‘islanded’ spaces for various purposes and pursuits, e.g. – financial, political, lifestyle, territorial, communitarian or purely escapist. Islands are destinations and domains, places of dreams and nightmares, both on a personal individual/community and a national/international level – in essence, according to Bonnett, islands can be seen and comprehended as processes (as well as places) embodying our modern era, hence why we live in an ‘age of islands.’

I wrote a longer review of this book for the Global Maritime History website, which you can read here

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dit boek sprak me iets minder aan dan het vorige dat ik van Bonnett gelezen heb. Thematisch en inhoudelijk deed me ook wat denken aan De Wereld in het Klein van Sietze Norder, waar ik ook al niet laaiend enthousiast over was, maar dan vond ik dat boek toch nog beter dan dit, denk ik.

Het grootste probleem dat ik met De Magie van Eilanden heb, is dat me niet echt duidelijk is wat het overkoepelende thema nu juist is. Ja, het gaat over eilanden, dat natuurlijk wel - maar verder? Wat wil de auteur hier nu aankaarten? De hoogmoed van de mens? Zijn pogingen om voor god te spelen? Of de impact van de klimaatverandering en de stijging van de zeespiegel op eilanden? Of nog iets anders? Alles komt wel wat aan bod, maar zonder dat er écht op doorgegaan wordt, behalve dan misschien dat het leven op eilanden voor veel mensen te heet onder de voeten wordt.
Er worden ook allerhande verschillende soorten eilanden besproken. Enerzijds is dat interessant, maar anderzijds draagt dat ook bij aan die algemene thematische vaagheid, vind ik. Wat wil je nu juist zeggen, Alastair?

De hoofdstukken afzonderlijk, over elke plek die hij bespreekt, zijn meestal wel interessant. Bovendien kwamen er toch enkele plaatsen ter sprake waar ik nog nooit van gehoord had, en dat is natuurlijk altijd wel plezant.

De vertaling is van Jeske Nelissen, mij verder onbekend. Het was een goede vertaling. Een paar keer stond er iets vreemds in, maar echt storen deed het niet. Alleen had de uitgeverij iets meer aandacht mogen besteden bij de redactie, zo te merken, want ik heb wel een aantal typfouten zien staan.

6/10

[Rmslis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an essay on some certain small islands that have one of two characteristics specific to them: either they have been newly formed, whether by natural means or man-made, or they are noted for losing substantial ground with a very real danger of completely disappearing. The author also provides examples of an island or two that have disappeared.

Although the content of the book was not quite what I expected, it was interesting reading about all of the new islands being created by Dubai and China for the purpose of both tourism and for more residential land. And likewise, it was interesting reading about some of the small islands with their close-knit communities coping with the constant erosion and ever-increasing loss of their island home. I was surprised to read that one of the islands in this unfortunate condition is Tonga. At the end of the book the author included some intriguing possibilities for the future, like islands that can be created that could at times, when necessary or desired, relocate themselves from the jurisdiction of one country and anchor near another country in order to take advantage of laws favorable to their interest. I enjoy reading about topics of unusual subject matter and this book certainly met that criteria.

[Eszter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alastair Bonnett liebt Inseln und findet, dass wir heute im Zeitalter der Inseln leben. Wenn man bedenkt, wie viele künstliche Inseln gebaut werden (mehr, als man denken würde), mag er sogar recht haben. Auf der anderen Seite verschwinden aber sehr viele Inseln, die Erderwärmung lässt den Meeresspiegel steigen und immer mehr Inselbewohner müssen ihre Heime verlassen.

Ich fand die Reiseerlebnisse interessant und gut geschrieben, fand aber irgendwie den roten Faden zum „Zeitalter der Inseln“ nicht. Insgesamt wirkte es eher wie eine lose Sammlung diverser Inselbesuche, die man versucht hat, irgendwie zu bündeln und in einen Rahmen zu fassen. Viel Interessantes dabei, aber die großen Sprünge auf dem Globus hin und her machten es zu keiner flüssigen Lektüre. Leider wirkten die beigefügten Fotos sehr amateurhaft, diese tun dem Buch auch nicht wirklich gut. Fand jedoch die Inselzeichnungen von Bonnett sehr nett.
Insgesamt kein schlechtes Buch, aber auch nicht wirklich überzeugend. Bin für einiges an neuem Wissen auf jeden Fall dankbar.

[Sean Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a bizarre little book. Despite the author contradicting himself several times (artificial island are expensive/artificial islands are a cheap option, artificial islands are an ecological disaster/artificial islands can be beneficial to the local environment) and rattling off unsubstantiated claims (China has reduced its poverty rate to less than 2%), and being so repetitive that his 250 pages or so could have been condensed to 15, I found this book oddly entertaining. The bloke’s obsession with islands is a little creepy though!

[Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

un géographe britannique fait un tour du monde d'iles qui apparaissent
(naturellement ou artificiellement) et d'autres qui disparaissent, essentiellement du fait du changement climatique et de l’élévation du
niveau de la mer qui en résulte. Ces voyages sont des occasions de rencontres et de questionnements. Sommes nous fous de vouloir à tout prix recréer de nouvelles iles, pourquoi une telle fascination pour les
iles? Une vision inquiétante sur l'avenir des populations iliennes, et un appel à pratiquer autrement. Une lecture passionnante

[Sam Szyperski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read, felt like a slow start until you understand the author’s style. Almost the entirety of the book was new information to me so I found it fun to learn about. I would’ve loved to hear more about the idea of islands, why people (author included) yearn for them, and covet them so much as opposed to learning just about individual islands. Overall good read 👌

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

From a night at an "ultra-star" hotel: "The toilet is run on so many sensors that it is on the verge of sentience; I have no control over the lid or the flush because it lifts and flushes when it thinks it is appropriate to do so. I lie in the dark, waiting for the toilet to make a decision."

<3

[Steven Beningo · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book. It provides interesting stories about the creation and maintenance of man made islands, as well as stories about natural islands that are now disappearing.

[Amos Tan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A broad study on the changes that humans and nature have effected on the creation and disappearance of islands. Where nature rules, how that affects the humans too

[august Shank · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not uplifting but very good

[Tom Clarke · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some interesting case studies, but there wasn't enough substance for this to feel like a satisfying read.