This is one of those ‘OMG’ books which breaks the mold, grabs you by the lapels and makes you want to read it without interruption.  The author, a young East German, has identified exactly what the title says—50 remote islands and has dug up a spectacular and often mysterious story about each one.  I had heard of only 8 of them—St. Helena (Napoleon’s site of exile), Diego Garcia (U.S. military base), Amsterdam (A book I had read in the past), Howland I (Amelia Earhart’s possible last stop), Floreana (our trip to Galapagos), Easter (site of the famous statues), Pitcairn (Mutiny on the Bounty fame), and Iwo Jima (WWII battle) while the other 42 were brand new.  And Oh, the stories!—death, deception, war, environmental destruction, weird language dreams, atomic testing, early exploration, scientific and meteorological stations, exotic customs, etc. A truly innovative and beautifiully rendered book with finely drawn maps and fascinating stories.