Kiribati

Book excerpt: -A journey to the end of the world, documenting a vanishing culture threatened by climate change -Presented through maps, infographics, and a glossary, all masterfully illustrated Kiribati is an island nation in the vast blue of the Pacific Ocean. Composed of thirty-two atolls and three groups of islands, Kiribati lies halfway between Hawaii and Australia. The largest and best-known of the many coral islands is Kiritimati, where James Cook landed on December 24, 1777, which is why he called it 'Christmas Island'. In recent years the island world of Kiribati has achieved fame for the wrong reason: climate scientists have calculated that many of these atolls and the outer zones of the coral islands will sink into the ocean when sea levels rise as expected. When Alice Piciocchi and Andrea Angeli heard this, their desire to visit grew. Yet, instead of meeting desperate inhabitants sitting on their packed suitcases, they found people who had no intention of leaving. This book is a special kind of travel journal and a masterpiece of bibliophilism. The authors have succeeded in bringing us closer to the everyday culture and ideas of Kiribati's people, testifying to their deep connection to the ocean and the universe itself.