In Islander, Patrick Barkham, travels to and reports on 11 islands of the coast of Great Britain, from the known - Isle of Man, St Kilda, Barra - to the small, unknown and uninhabited - Bardsey, Osea, Ray. It's an evocative and vividly observed book, and Barkham investigates history and culture and seeks to discover what it's like to live on an island, and what it means to be an islander. It's a fascinating book with references to island-loving writers from D H Lawrence to Compton Mackenzie, with meditations on everything from the politics of island ownership to wildlife to farming techniques. If you have a fascination for islands, as I do, this is a book for you.