This then is my Book of the Month : The Mystery Of Easter Island by Katherine Routledge. A facsimile of the original, published in 1919. Setting out to explore one last unexplained area of the world before they died; they were away for more than 2 years. The 1st World War started after they were well on their way and the world was not the same as when they departed for the Pacific— contrary to the reassurances they made to their family and friends. The transportation to Easter Island even had to be built in the form of a 'yacht' called the Mana.
The first excavations of the stone statues and the last chance ever to speak to the old men (not women) who carried the oral history of the island were carried out by this expedition.
A good read and beautifully written, with just the right amount of 'dated prose'.
A cogent and entirely reasonable argument for the retention of books in print rather than ebooks (though I really miss the ability to define words and to chase interesting facts and ideas down the rabbit hole of Wikepedia.
You can buy this book. From a really nice shop on the Main Street of Hanga Roa or almost certainly from Amazon.
As an aside, I'm also reading World War Z by Max Brooks — either Easter Island or the Falkland Islands would be good places to escape the Zombie plague — assuming that of course you close down the airports after you arrive.
