Mike Pitts: Island at the Edge of the World

Situated in the south-eastern Pacific Ocean, Easter Island is best known for its nearly 1000 monumental statues carved by the early Rapa Nui people.

But where the Rapa Nui came from, how they got there, why and how the colossal statues came to be, and what happened to the civilization the islanders created remains shrouded in mystery.Tracing the history of this mysterious island from 18th-century tales of lost continents, cannibalism, giants and aliens to more recent ideas that islanders cut down all the trees, causing mass starvation and social collapse archaeologist Mike Pitts draws on the latest scientific and archaeological research, plus a huge range of historical accounts, to shed new light on generations of false histories and change the way people think about this mysterious land.Described by the Mail on Sunday as revelatory ... fascinating ... [and] wholly convincing, Island at the Edge of the World is the most compelling and comprehensive account yet published of the extraordinary story of Easter Island.Pitts is a Marlborough-based archaeologist, journalist, author of multiple books on archaeology and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries.

For 20 years he edited British Archaeology and he continues to conduct original archaeological research.