I was intrigued by this book because Louise Michel is one of my favourite French historical figures (also, incidentally, because I live on an island although my own exile is totally voluntary!), and I wasn't disappointed. Exiles put what I already knew about Louise Michel into a new perspective and, as I didn't know the two other figures William Atkins – Dinuzulu and Lev Shternberg – conjures up, I learned loads of new things. I very much enjoyed the hybridity of the text, part-travelogue, part-history book, as well as its political insight. This story of 3 people sent into exile by 3 different governments (French, British and Russian) on 3 different islands (New Caledonia, Saint Helena and Sakhalin) spans a good part of the globe, and is fascinating.