For over a hundred years the Pacific Island of Pala has been the scene of a unique experiment in civilisation. At the instigation of a Scottish doctor and a Buddhist king, western science has been brought together with the philosophy and humanism of the East, making the island community a paradise on earth. When Will Farnaby, a cynical, disillusioned journalist arrives in their midst on an undisclosed search for information about Pala's massive unexploited oil reserves, he is taken wholeheartedly under the islanders' wing. Drawn ever further into their trust, he becomes convinced that this extraordinary way of life should remain unspoilt. Soon the need to complete his mission becomes an intolerable burden . . .
'Island' is Huxley's glimpse of utopia. In this, his last novel, mankind is portrayed at its sanest and most admirable.
