Island Studies Journal, 14(2), Book Reviews

A couple of decades ago, it was often said by those seeking to carve out a niche for island studies as a field of research within wider academia that islands have always been important, but that academia itself rarely takes them seriously.The island scholar's argument often went something along the lines of: "if you think about it, from Homer to Hemmingway, and from Darwin to Defoe, islands have always been central to literature, science, politics and so many other disciplines besides."But for those who work in academia today, such arguments rarely need to be made with such force, nor do they meet with as much resistance as they once did from others.The reason for this is that, in many of today's wider high-profile debates, it has become abundantly clear that islands are a key focus across the natural sciences, social sciences, humanities and arts.Islands are the loci and foci of many contemporary developments in the environmental sciences, for geopolitical tensions around the world, and leading debates in postcolonial studies.Perhaps most obviously, the island is an emblematic figure for debates about environmental vulnerability, sustainability and resilience, the Anthropocene, alternative pathways of development, migration patterns, and intensifying processes of urbanisation, to name just a few.Yet, even as the wider world of academia moves to recognise the importance of islands and archipelagos for many of these wider concerns, the rise of island studies itself is in no small part down to the monumental efforts of leaders such as Godfrey Baldacchino.Indeed, for many, Baldacchino has become synonymous with 'island studies' as a salient contributor to the development of the field.He has produced dozens of publications arguing for the importance of island studies as a field of research with its own key themes and attributes; and, perhaps even more importantly, worked tirelessly to bring together those interested in islands from disparate disciplines through such leading organisations as the International Small Islands Studies Association and its 'Islands of the World' conferences; and RETI, the Network of Island Universities.The 459 pages of the Routledge international handbook of island studies: A world of islands is a salient testimony to Baldacchino's enthusiasm and particular approach over the past few decades: i.e. the book is both widely collaborative (there are 21 chapters, plus Baldacchino's extensive Preface) and a signalling of key themes for island studies to engage in such a way that opens up, rather than closes down, debates about islands.The result is an indispensable guide for island studies' students and scholars, and for those who more generally wonder what island studies involves as a field of research.It is an extremely useful addition and sequel to Baldacchino's previous A world of islands: An island studies reader published in 2007, and I could not recommend it more.Thinking through how useful the book will be for my own teaching and research on island studies, it is helpful to first turn to the extensive Preface, written by Baldacchino, and how this serves as an extremely valuable opening to island studies.The Preface outlines such key and recurrent themes as: the openness of island studies as a field of research, the key institutions of island studies, discussions about boundedness, smallness, isolation and

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