Serpent in Paradise

Most people know the story of the Mutiny on the Bounty, how in 1789 Captain Bligh's crew mutinied then founded their paradise on Pitcairn Island. Two centuries later, the mutineers' descendants still live on Pitcairn with no cars, doctors, crime, or regular contact with the outside world, despite the hordes of paradise-seekers who deluge the island with requests, most of which are refused. After two years' persistence and 4,000 miles aboard a chemical tanker, Dea Birkett finally made her way to Pitcairn, but the island paradise has a dark legacy. Birkett's account is a fascinating look at a tight community with a notorious past and a shady present.