Customer Reviews

Clipperton: A History of the Island the World Forgot

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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!

To Mr Karl Berger, reviewer below.
I found it very interesting that you have written another book on Clipperton. Can you provide me with any more details of your book eg is it non-fiction, will it cover similar ground to this book or does it have a different slant?

Thank you,

When I saw the book Clipperton in the display window of a New York book store I had already been planning to write a novel about this strange island. With the additional information the book provided my plans became more concrete then. After a decade and many many rejection letters I finally found a publisher in Harbor House, Augusta, Georgia. The novel will be published in the fall of 2006. Thanks to Jimmy Skaggs; his book is interesting and well documented. A find for island lovers.

Karl Berger M. D.