Clipperton: A History of the Island the World Forgot [Hardcover]

Jimmy M. Skaggs (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 318 pages
• Publisher: Walker & Co; 1ST edition (October 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802710905
• ISBN-13: 978-0802710901
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,061,402 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating history on an obscure island, January 17, 2005

By 

hafnarfjordur (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Clipperton: A History of the Island the World Forgot (Hardcover)

When I first saw Clipperton on a map of the world and I googled it for more information, I was floored to find snippets of abandonment, starvation, rape and murder, and FDR's personal interest in this tiny atoll in the eastern Pacific, and eventually led to me reading this exhaustively researched book.

From many obscure sources, the author did a great job tracking the chronology of discovery, early encounters, attempted development, military history and FDR's interest in the island, and overview of fauna and flora. To me, the most striking chapter was when a group of Mexicans were abandoned on the island; the men perished trying to row for help, and the women remaining on the island were left to starve and deal with the one remaining man on the island who proclaimed himself "king" and raped several of the women.

Unbelievable history for such a small, isolated rock in the middle of nowhere.

5.0 out of 5 stars still a better source of info. than the Internet, January 28, 2012

By 

a Goldwater libertarian - See all my reviews

This review is from: Clipperton: A History of the Island the World Forgot (Hardcover)

Even in the Internet age this book is the best source of historical information about this French-owned island off the coast of Mexico. I read it in '89 and again in '97, and now it'll be on my bookshelf.

Painstaking research and good writing prove that the truth is stranger than fiction. Much much stranger.

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb book, March 17, 2011

By 

Eric Chevreuil "Pardon my French" (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Clipperton: A History of the Island the World Forgot (Hardcover)

So much has happened on theis little ring of coral 3 days out at sea from Acapulco.

You name it: pirastes, sharks, discoveries and re-discoveries, claims and counter-claims, shipwrecks, guano mining form San Francisco, England and Mexican colony, starvation, drownings, murder and rape, last minute rescue, secret US mission turned into a disaster, secret base, sea plane base and hurricane, stranded fishermen and stranded boats...

What else do you want...in a true story!