A gifted storyteller takes one on three epic journeys: to New Caledonia, St Helena and Sakhalin - all of them outposts of Empire. He also recounts the same journeys undertaken over a hundred years ago by Louise Michel, Dinuzulu kaCetshwayo and Lev Shternberg - all of them prisoners and outcasts of Empire.
The author traces the fortunes and follies, the triumphs and tragedies, of these exiles and the people and regimes which imprisoned them. This is a rich tapestry of cause and effect.
The writing is genuine. Nothing is postured or romanticised. I found the book refreshingly different and extraordinarily revelatory. It is rich in detail and more relevant than ever as Europe turns its back on more and more displaced and needful people.

I was intrigued by this book because Louise Michel is one of my favourite French historical figures (also, incidentally, because I live on an island although my own exile is totally voluntary!), and I wasn't disappointed. Exiles put what I already knew about Louise Michel into a new perspective and, as I didn't know the two other figures William Atkins – Dinuzulu and Lev Shternberg – conjures up, I learned loads of new things. I very much enjoyed the hybridity of the text, part-travelogue, part-history book, as well as its political insight. This story of 3 people sent into exile by 3 different governments (French, British and Russian) on 3 different islands (New Caledonia, Saint Helena and Sakhalin) spans a good part of the globe, and is fascinating.