No Island Too Far

Throughout a lifetime of biological and seabird research, Michael Brooke has been blessed with the opportunity to visit a huge array of islands dotted across all the oceans of the world. His is an island list fit to make the armchair traveller green with envy – and potentially seasick. Truly no island has been too far: from St Kilda to Spitsbergen, from Hawaii to the furthest reaches of the Southern Ocean, with all manner of destinations in between.

In this deeply knowledgeable and at times humorous book, the author shares the experience of stupendous scenery, amazing wildlife and cutting-edge scientific investigation, all blended with idiosyncratic adventures. We discover a great deal about the peculiar ecology and unique species of islands, looking at everything from plants, mammals, reptiles and birds to human aspects, with a splash of history and anecdote.

The engaging journey will appeal to anyone who wants to learn about islands that they will probably never visit in person. The reader will share the day-to-day grind and exhilaration of undertaking fieldwork in remote situations, reflecting on the curiosity of a mindset that enables equal pleasure to be extracted from, say, Sicilian architecture and the inexpressibly brown landscape of Cape Verde.

Introduction: A Royal Connection 

FIRST ISLANDS 
1. Fair Isle 
2. Akerøya, Oslo Fjord, Norway 
3. Bear Island 
4. Spitsbergen 

OUTER HEBRIDES AND BEYOND: A HALF-CENTURY OF PUFFINS 
5. Shiants, Minch, Outer Hebrides 
6. St Kilda 
7. Faeroes 

FIRST ISLAND POSTINGS 
8. Skokholm, Pembrokeshire, Wales 
9. Cousin Island, Seychelles 
10. Skomer, Pembrokeshire, Wales 
11. Iceland 

FAR SOUTH 
12. Marion Island, Southern Ocean 
13. Juan Fernández archipelago (Islas Robinson Crusoe and Alejandro Selkirk) 
14. Gough Island, Southern Ocean
15. Nightingale and Tristan da Cunha 
16. Bouvet Island, Furious Fifties, Southern Ocean 
17. South Sandwich Islands, Furious Fifties, Southern Ocean 

PITCAIRN ISLANDS, SOUTH PACIFIC 
18. Pitcairn 
19. Oeno 
20. Ducie 
21. Henderson 
22. Tahiti 
23. The Marquesas and Tuamotus 

IN PURSUIT OF PETRELS 
24. Réunion, Indian Ocean 
25. Round Island, Mauritius, Indian Ocean 
26. Hawaii 
27. Falklands, South Atlantic 
28. Madeira 

THE CAPE VERDES, TROPICAL ATLANTIC, OVER TWENTY YEARS 
29. São Nicolau 
30. Raso 
31. Fogo 

SINGING FOR MY SUPPER 
32. Cocos Island, Eastern Pacific 
33. Galápagos, Eastern Pacific 
34. Ascension, Tropical Atlantic 
35. Sri Lanka 
36. Madagascar 
37. Vancouver Island 
38. Borneo 
39. Isla Natividad, Baja California 

BECAUSE THEY ARE THERE 
40. Easter Island, South Pacific 
41. Lord Howe Island, Tasman Sea 
42. Stewart Island, South of New Zealand 
43. Sicily 

SCOTLAND IN MAY 
44. North Rona to Jura 
45. Orkney 

RETURN TO JUAN FERNÁNDEZ: THE COVID YEARS 
46. Isla Alejandro Selkirk, Juan Fernández Islands 

Afterword 
List of species mentioned in the text