Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Last Island:
Leave them alone.
Quick synopsis:
The story of North Sentinel Island and the isolated tribe that calls it home.
Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like:
The Andaman Island chain contains nearly 600 islands and thousands of species that don’t exist anywhere else in the world.
Fun Fact for History Nerds:
No scholars can clearly answer the question of how the Andaman Islands got their name.
My Take on The Last Island:
To colonize or not to colonize, that is the question. Adam Goodheart wrestles with this quandary in his book The Last Island. The island we are talking about is North Sentinel Island near India which has a tribe of isolated people. You may have heard of it when an American went to the island to try and bring Jesus to the tribe and was killed. Yes, Goodheart discusses that and no, Goodheart does not try and do the same thing.
Readers should be aware that Goodheart uses the experiences of many of the contacted tribes in the surrounding area of the Andaman Islands to fill in a lot of the blanks. I know other reviewers felt these were just padding, but I felt they filled in a lot of background and gave an idea of what the Sentinelese might be avoiding. And there is still plenty on the Sentinelese people including a British officer who was probably super creepy when you get all the facts.
Overall, I got exactly what I wanted out of this book and more.
Verdict:
A great read. Buy it here!
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