England is known for its islands: Canvey, Sheppey, Wight and Dogs, Mersea, Brownsea, Foulness, and Rat. But there are also wilder, rockier places—Lundy, the Scillies, the Farnes—and these islands possess their own peculiar stories, including that of the ex-major who seized a fort in the North Sea and declared himself Prince of Sealand. Unearthing strange but true histories, Ian Crofton surveys the islands encircling England, finding places of refuge or holiness, but also prisons, rubbish dumps, and military installations.