In a small island nominally owned by India, a tribe of hunter gatherers continue to live in much the same way people did before the advent of agriculture (scrap metal spear tips and arrowheads notwithstanding), aggressively isolationist, these people have consistently fought off any attempt by outsiders to land on their island.
The mere fact of these people’s existence and continued way of life is fascinating which may explain why some people are so dead set on making contact when contact is manifestly not something the islanders want. Yes, there was the imprudent American “missionary” who snuck onto the island only to be killed in 2018, but even during the reign of the British empire people were obsessed with visiting these people and interacting with them somehow.

This book, to my mind, was an informative overview of North Sentinel Island and the surrounding archipelago and its long and often bloody history with outsiders. The author did attempt to visit the island himself a few times but he doesn’t spend too much of the books page count going into his own story. This wise choice and the obviously competent writing make it an engaging read for anyone interested in the topic.