Ascension Island is one of the most remote places on the planet. Since the days of Napoleon it has served as a far-flungoutpost of Empire, a communications centre and a vital transportation link during both the Second World War and Falklands Conflict. At the same time, it is home to one of the most important sea turtle colonies in the world, and is a major breeding area for tropical seabirds. Photographer and naturalist Kevin Schafer spent several weeks on Ascension, which has recently opened its doors to the outside world for the first time. The result is a compelling portrait of a unique tropical island, rich in both human and natural history.

The New York Times bestselling author of Krakatoa and The Professor and the Madman takes readers on a quirky and charming tour of the last outpost of the British empire Outposts is Simon Winchester’s journey to find the vanishing empire, “on which the sun never sets.” In the course of a three-year, 100,000 mile journey—from the chill of the Antarctic to the blue seas of the Caribbean, from the South of Spain and the tip of China to the utterly remote specks in the middle of gale-swept oceans—he discovered such romance and depravity, opulence and despair tht he was inspired to write what may be the last contemporary account of the British empire. Written with Winchester’s captivating style and breadth, here are conversations and anecdotes, myths and political analysis, scenery and history—a poignant and colorful record of the lingering beat of what was once the heart of the civilized world.

On 5 May 1725 a Dutch ship's officer, Leendert Hasenbosch, was set ashore on the desert island of Ascension in the South Atlantic Ocean, as a punishment for sodomy. He tried to survive on turtles and birds but found very little water on the barren island. He wrote a diary. He probably died after about half a year. In January 1726 British mariners found his tent, diary and other things and brought the diary to England. In 1726 a first English version of the diary of the Dutch castaway was published. Other versions followed in 1728, 1730 and 1976. Who was the castaway? The truth was disclosed by the Dutch historian Michiel Koolbergen (1953-2002), in a posthumously published book in Dutch. With the support of Michiel Koolbergen's family and publisher, this new book discloses the truth in English. This book is the second edition, with some improvements compared to the original edition of 2006. This book is illustrated with line drawings, both historic ones and by the Dutch artist Anneke de Vries.

These three South Atlantic British dependent territories were all discovered by Portuguese seamen in the early sixteenth century. Following in the wake of the Portuguese, English and Dutch Eastindia men found the island a convenient port of call on the long haul home. After a brief struggle, St. Helena was tinder the direct rule of the East India Company from 1673 to 1834 when it became a Crown Colony. It is best known as the place f exile of Napoleon Bonaparte from 1815 to his death in 1821. With the opening of the Suez Canal, and the introduction of steamships, St. Helena's economy collapsed and the island has remained a quiet backwater ever since. Ascension and Tristan da Cunha were both occupied by a British garrison when Napoleon arrived on St. Helena in order to prevent any attempt at rescue. Ascension remained tinder Admiralty control as 'a stone frigate' until 1922 when it became a dependency of St. Helena. During the Second World War an American air base was constructed which was heavily used as a staging post for the British task force en route to recover the Falkland Islands in the 1982 South Atlantic War. The base continues to provide an essential link in the logistical support of the British garrison on the Falklands. A small number of families eked out a precarious and isolated existence on Tristan from 1826 to 1961 when its volcano, thought to be long extinct, suddenly erupted causing the islanders to be evacuated to England. There was a general amazement when most of them elected to return to their hard life in 1962. Today, they enjoy six calls a year by South African vessels from Cape Town in connection with the crawfish industry on the island, and an annual visitby a ship from England.