In a few words
An exploration of isolation and connectedness based on thirty years of travel, from the Sunday Times bestselling author of Adventures in Human Being and Empire Antarctica
In a few words
An exploration of isolation and connectedness based on thirty years of travel, from the Sunday Times bestselling author of Adventures in Human Being and Empire Antarctica
In a few words
An exploration of isolation and connectedness based on thirty years of travel, from the Sunday Times bestselling author of Adventures in Human Being and Empire Antarctica
Gavin Francis is a wonderful writer – thoughtful, engaging, immensely knowledgeable and supremely human
Bill Bryson
For those who have missed travelling this year, and for anyone who has pondered the meaning of "isolation", there is an ideal present – a beautiful and highly illustrated book called Island Dreams, by Gavin Francis, exploring the place of islands in our psyche – from Lamu to the Lofoten Islands, the Faroes to the Falklands, Avalon to the Azores
Hilary Mantel
Gavin Francis is a wonderful writer – thoughtful, engaging, immensely knowledgeable and supremely human
Bill Bryson
For those who have missed travelling this year, and for anyone who has pondered the meaning of "isolation", there is an ideal present – a beautiful and highly illustrated book called Island Dreams, by Gavin Francis, exploring the place of islands in our psyche – from Lamu to the Lofoten Islands, the Faroes to the Falklands, Avalon to the Azores
Hilary Mantel
Gavin Francis is a wonderful writer – thoughtful, engaging, immensely knowledgeable and supremely human
Bill Bryson
For those who have missed travelling this year, and for anyone who has pondered the meaning of "isolation", there is an ideal present – a beautiful and highly illustrated book called Island Dreams, by Gavin Francis, exploring the place of islands in our psyche – from Lamu to the Lofoten Islands, the Faroes to the Falklands, Avalon to the Azores
Hilary Mantel
More about
the book
SHORTLISTED FOR WATERSTONES BOOK OF THE YEAR
In Island Dreams, Gavin Francis examines our collective fascination with islands. He blends stories of his own travels with psychology, philosophy and great voyages from literature, shedding new light on the importance of islands and isolation in our collective consciousness.
Comparing the life of freedom of thirty years of extraordinary travel from the Faroe Islands to the Aegean, from the Galapagos to the Andaman Islands with a life of responsibility as a doctor, community member and parent approaching middle age, Island Dreams riffs on the twinned poles of rest and motion, independence and attachment, never more relevant than in today’s perennially connected world.
Illustrated with maps throughout, this is a celebration of human adventures in the world and within our minds.
More about
the book
SHORTLISTED FOR WATERSTONES BOOK OF THE YEAR
In Island Dreams, Gavin Francis combines stories of his own travels with psychology, philosophy and myth, shedding new light on the importance of islands and isolation in our collective consciousness.
Francis draws on thirty years of island adventures from the Faroe Islands to the Aegean, from the Galapagos to the Andaman Islands. He contrasts these quests for freedom with the demands for commitment required as a doctor, community member and parent. Island Dreams riffs on the twin poles of rest and motion, independence and attachment, never more relevant than in today’s ever-connected world.
More about
the book
SHORTLISTED FOR WATERSTONES BOOK OF THE YEAR
In Island Dreams, Gavin Francis combines stories of his own travels with psychology, philosophy and myth, shedding new light on the importance of islands and isolation in our collective consciousness.
Francis draws on thirty years of island adventures from the Faroe Islands to the Aegean, from the Galapagos to the Andaman Islands. He contrasts these quests for freedom with the demands for commitment required as a doctor, community member and parent. Island Dreams riffs on the twin poles of rest and motion, independence and attachment, never more relevant than in today’s ever-connected world.
Highly absorbing . . . Francis combines memoir from a lifetime of travel and the practice of medicine, observations on the geography and history of islands across the globe, and reflections on how islands illuminate his own life and the human condition
An intoxicating voyage during which maps become fictions and fictions verifiable facts. Myths of returning and older legends carry us out in a shared fugue of obsession and release. Here is a worthy companion to the dream labyrinths of Borges
Iain Sinclair
A thrilling book – beautiful and spare at once . . . A real achievement
Tim Dee
Combines brilliant observation with personal revelation, literary examination and even philosophical contemplation . . . Full of intriguing insights, wonderful description, well-researched detail and interspersed with a large number of historical and contemporary maps, which adds to the immersive reading experience . . . A wonderful, thoughtful and endlessly engaging piece of work
Doug Johnstone
Big IssueHighly absorbing . . . Francis combines memoir from a lifetime of travel and the practice of medicine, observations on the geography and history of islands across the globe, and reflections on how islands illuminate his own life and the human condition
An intoxicating voyage during which maps become fictions and fictions verifiable facts. Myths of returning and older legends carry us out in a shared fugue of obsession and release. Here is a worthy companion to the dream labyrinths of Borges
Iain Sinclair
A thrilling book – beautiful and spare at once . . . A real achievement
Tim Dee
Combines brilliant observation with personal revelation, literary examination and even philosophical contemplation . . . Full of intriguing insights, wonderful description, well-researched detail and interspersed with a large number of historical and contemporary maps, which adds to the immersive reading experience . . . A wonderful, thoughtful and endlessly engaging piece of work
Doug Johnstone
Big IssueHighly absorbing . . . Francis combines memoir from a lifetime of travel and the practice of medicine, observations on the geography and history of islands across the globe, and reflections on how islands illuminate his own life and the human condition
An intoxicating voyage during which maps become fictions and fictions verifiable facts. Myths of returning and older legends carry us out in a shared fugue of obsession and release. Here is a worthy companion to the dream labyrinths of Borges
Iain Sinclair
A thrilling book – beautiful and spare at once . . . A real achievement
Tim Dee
Combines brilliant observation with personal revelation, literary examination and even philosophical contemplation . . . Full of intriguing insights, wonderful description, well-researched detail and interspersed with a large number of historical and contemporary maps, which adds to the immersive reading experience . . . A wonderful, thoughtful and endlessly engaging piece of work
Doug Johnstone
Big Issue
Gavin Francis
View profileGavin Francis is an award-winning writer and GP. He is the author of four books of non-fiction, including Adventures in Human Being, which was a Sunday Times bestseller and won the Saltire Scottish Non-Fiction Book of the Year Award, and Empire Antarctica, which won Scottish Book of the Year in the SMIT Awards and was shortlisted for both the Ondaatje and Costa Prizes. He has written for the Guardian, The Times, the New York Review of Books and the London Review of Books. His work is published in eighteen languages. He lives in Edinburgh, Scotland.
@gavinfranc | gavinfrancis.com
Gavin Francis
View profileGavin Francis is an award-winning writer and GP. He is the author of eight books of non-fiction, including Adventures in Human Being, which was a Sunday Times bestseller and won the Saltire Scottish Non-Fiction Book of the Year Award, and Empire Antarctica, which won Scottish Book of the Year in the SMIT Awards and was shortlisted for both the Ondaatje and Costa Prizes. He has written for the Guardian, The Times, the New York Review of Books and the London Review of Books. His work is published in eighteen languages. He lives in Edinburgh, Scotland.
@gavinfranc | gavinfrancis.com
Gavin Francis
View profileGavin Francis is an award-winning writer and GP. He is the author of eight books of non-fiction, including Adventures in Human Being, which was a Sunday Times bestseller and won the Saltire Scottish Non-Fiction Book of the Year Award, and Empire Antarctica, which won Scottish Book of the Year in the SMIT Awards and was shortlisted for both the Ondaatje and Costa Prizes. He has written for the Guardian, The Times, the New York Review of Books and the London Review of Books. His work is published in eighteen languages. He lives in Edinburgh, Scotland.
@gavinfranc | gavinfrancis.com
