'A delightful hymn to the many attractions of islands... There are so many riches and
delights in this book that there is scarcely a page that does not invite quotations so I can best advise that you buy it and treat it as an anthology or a box of delights. It will set you dreaming and have you thinking'

'Composed of koan-like snatches of prose, [Island Dreams] wanders between memoir and
literature, steered by Francis's adventurous past and eclectic reading , Illustrated with a gorgeous array of maps, pictures and diagrams'

'In his elegant, questing book, flavoured by wide learning and deep experience, Francis offers a fresh look at a perennial paradox; whether we live gregariously in a city or remotely on an island, a part of us is always wondering and fantasising about the Other'

'Not just a paean but a meditation. Drawing on psychology, philosophy and literature, Francis examines the appeal of separation and remoteness, and recounts his own trips over the years, to the Antarctic, the Hebrides and beyond ... He writes in brief, elliptical paragraphs, each as ornately designed as the diagrams that accompany them'

'Full of intriguing insights, wonderful description, well-researched detail and interspersed with a large number of historical and contemporary maps... A wonderful, thoughtful and endlessly engaging piece of work'

'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'

'Blending memoir and nature writing in a free-form style, the book combines stories of his own travels with reflections from psychology, philosophy and literature and features a broad range of maps'

'It is a particular pleasure to read this book now, when we are not travelling, when we have had to become our own islands ... Island Dreams provides a reminder of isolation's wonders, as well as an extraordinary tour of some of the most remarkable places on our precious Earth'

'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 enjoyable tour both of the longing for isolation and of islands in culture, punctuated by antique cartography and inspired by a childhood love of maps'