The Last Island - A Fatal Shore and the End of the Age of Discovery

"A journey to the coast of North Sentinel Island, home to a tribe believed to be the most isolated human community on earth. The Sentinelese people want to be left alone and will shoot deadly arrows at anyone who tries to come ashore. As the web of modernity draws ever closer, the island represents the last chapter in the Age of Discovery-the final holdout in a completely connected world. In November 2018, a zealous American missionary was killed while attempting to visit an island he called 'Satan's last stronghold,' a small patch of land known as North Sentinel in the Andaman Islands, a remote archipelago in the Indian Ocean. News of the tragedy fascinated people around the world. Most were unaware such a place still existed in our time: an island unmolested by the advances of modern technology, where the natives go naked and hunt with bows and arrows. Twenty years before the American missionary's ill-fated visit, a young American historian and journalist named Adam Goodheart also traveled to the waters off North Sentinel. During his time in the Andaman Islands he witnessed another isolated tribe emerge into modernity for the first time. Now, Goodheart-a bestselling historian-has returned to the Andamans. The Last Island is a work of history as well as travel, a journey in time as well as place. It tells the stories of others drawn to North Sentinel's mystery through the centuries, from imperial adventurers to an eccentric Victorian photographer to modern-day anthropologists. It narrates the tragic stories of other Andaman tribes' encounters with the outside world. And it shows how the web of modernity is drawing ever closer to the island's shores. The Last Island is a beautifully written meditation on the end of the Age of Discovery at the start of a new millennium. It is a book that will fascinate any reader interested in the limits-and dangers-of our modern, global society and its emphasis on ceaseless, unbroken connection"

About the author

Adam Goodheart is a historian, essayist, journalist, and bestselling author of 1861: The Civil War Awakening. His articles have appeared in The Atlantic, The New York Times, National Geographic, and The American Scholar. Goodheart is the director of Washington College’s Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience. He lives in Washington, D.C., and on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.

Summary

“A deft combination of adventure, history, reportage and elegy.”—Washington Post


A journey to the coast of North Sentinel Island, home to a tribe believed to be the most isolated human community on earth. The Sentinelese people want to be left alone and will shoot deadly arrows at anyone who tries to come ashore. As the web of modernity draws ever closer, the island represents the last chapter in the Age of Discovery—the final holdout in a completely connected world.

In November 2018, a zealous American missionary was killed while attempting to visit an island he called “Satan’s last stronghold,” a small patch of land known as North Sentinel in the Andaman Islands, a remote archipelago in the Indian Ocean. News of the tragedy fascinated people around the world. Most were unaware such a place still existed in our time: an island unmolested by the advances of modern technology.

Twenty years before the American missionary’s ill-fated visit, a young American historian and journalist named Adam Goodheart also traveled to the waters off North Sentinel. During his time in the Andaman Islands he witnessed another isolated tribe emerge into modernity for the first time.

Now, Goodheart—a bestselling historian—has returned to the Andamans. The Last Island is a work of history as well as travel, a journey in time as well as place. It tells the stories of others drawn to North Sentinel’s mystery through the centuries, from imperial adventurers to an eccentric Victorian photographer to modern-day anthropologists. It narrates the tragic stories of other Andaman tribes’ encounters with the outside world. And it shows how the web of modernity is drawing ever closer to the island’s shores.

The Last Island is a beautifully written meditation on the end of the Age of Discovery at the start of a new millennium. It is a book that will fascinate any reader interested in the limits—and dangers—of our modern, global society and its emphasis on ceaseless, unbroken connection.

Foreword

A feature documentary, produced by National Geographic, will coincide with publication! The Last Mission focuses on the death of John Allen Chau. Adam is interviewed in the film which will help bring even more attention to the island and the author.

Publicity and promotions, received and scheduled to date:

11/17: New York Public Library, in conversation with Manoush Zomorodi

11/10: Brattleboro Literary Festival, virtual

11/2: Strathmore Speakers Series, virtual

11/1: National Geographic, commissioned article about the writing of Last Island will appear in the November issue of Nat Geo

9/17: Politics & Prose, author in conversation with Wil Haygood

September: “Next Big Idea Club” Must-Read Book selection

For event queries, please contact Caroline Brink at [e-mail]

Product details

• Authors: Adam Goodheart
• Publisher: GODIN
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Release: 08.06.2021, delayed
• EAN: 9781567926828
• ISBN: 978-1-56792-682-8
• No. of pages: 136
• Subjects: Non-fiction book > History > Miscellaneous; Social sciences, law, business > Ethnology > Ethnology; TRAVEL / Essays & Travelogues, HISTORY / Civilization, HISTORY / Asia / India & South Asia, LAW / Indigenous Peoples, India, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Indigenous people: government