Island at the Edge of the World

The Forgotten History of Easter Island

Mike Pitts, Mike Pitts

$49.99

Hardback

Forthcoming
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English

Bloomsbury
06 January 2026

History; Australasian & Pacific history; Archaeology by period & region

'The true and fascinating story of Easter Island and its amazing statues' KEN FOLLETT 'Revelatory... fascinating... [and] wholly convincing' MAIL ON SUNDAY

Where did they come from? How did they get there? Why did they carve the island’s colossal iconic statues – and how? What happened to the civilisation they created?

These are just a few of the questions about Easter Island, or Rapa Nui, that have puzzled generations.

Europeans first encountered the Islanders in the early eighteenth century, bringing back astonishing tales from one of the most remote inhabited places on Earth. They told fantastic stories of lost continents, cannibalism, giants and aliens. Thor Heyerdahl claimed that the island was discovered by pale-skinned sailors from South America, ignoring the rightful claims of the greatest explorers the world has ever known. Recently, the idea that Islanders cut down all the trees, causing mass starvation and social collapse, has been espoused by scientists, broadcasters and politicians. Now, in archaeologist Mike Pitts’s superb investigation, Island at the Edge of the World, he provides authoritative new insights into what really happened.

Using the latest scientific and archaeological research, plus a huge range of historical accounts, Pitts builds a fascinating new portrait of the Islanders’ story. In particular, Pitts revives the life work of Katherine Routledge, who spent sixteen months on the island in 1914-15, surviving revolution and war, assembling a priceless but largely ignored archive of excavations and interviews - and whose legacy reveals the rapacious interference that spawned generations of false histories. Many questions still remain, but this is the most compelling and comprehensive account yet published of the extraordinary story of Easter Island.

By: Mike Pitts, Mike Pitts
Imprint: Bloomsbury
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 236mm, Width: 164mm, Spine: 42mm
Weight: 638g
ISBN: 9781526667250
ISBN 10: 1526667258
Pages: 384
Publication Date: 06 January 2026
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Mike Pitts is an archaeologist, journalist and author of multiple books on archaeology. He has written for The Times, Telegraph, Sunday Times, Observer and Guardian, and many magazines including New Scientist and BBC History. He edited British Archaeology magazine for twenty years and continues to conduct original archaeological research which has been published in several peer-reviewed journals. He is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries.

Reviews for Island at the Edge of the World: The Forgotten History of Easter Island

Mike Pitts has written the true and fascinating story of Easter Island and its amazing statues -- Ken Follett A thought-provoking mix of published past and current work, and rediscovered documents that together provides a usefully different perspective on Rapa Nui's iconic world heritage archaeology -- Professor Sue Hamilton Rapa Nui has a double history of early Polynesian life and later colonial devastation, both mythologised. Mike Pitts draws on deep research to provide a powerful corrective to such myths. Anyone looking for an intelligent, balanced and accessible account of Rapa Nui should read his book -- Chris Gosden, author of THE HISTORY OF MAGIC