The description of the book “The Island of Extraordinary Captives” by Simon Parkin seemed to be an in-depth description of human inhumanity toward other humans. It was that but there was a lot of tedium exploring what had been painstaking research. There was surprising little information about the person the book was supposed to focus on --Peter Fleischmann. This was a major disappointment although there was lots of name-dropping for other captives and how they survived. The interment camp called Hutchinson on the Isle of Man was a hotbed for artists, philosophers, and scholars and their various exploits are described sometimes to excess. The “prisoners” were able to overcome many obstacles to produce works of enduring significance.

Peter had an extraordinarily difficult time, to be sure; but the first half of the book had minimal mention of him and his tribulations. I would have preferred to read more about Peter and his problems. The second half does focus more on him but still it seems like a bit of false advertising.

All in all, it was not bad but did not, at least for this reader, live up to the hype. I’d recommend it but don’t expect to see Peter Fleischmann as a real focus.

An incredibly interesting and detailed account of people who fled to welcoming England escaping Hitler but were then interred by the British government once war broke out. The prison camp held many influential and learned people including professors, artists, composers and the like. While in the camp they banded together with their creativity. A Fascinating read.