Settlements of the Doomed is part of the Pocket History series—a conveniently portable, stylishly packaged and eminently collectible set of twelve books that each open a window onto a selection of remarkable stories, characters and themes from the past. History they say is written by the winners. We read about the first settlers arriving in Sydney Cove with modern icon the Opera House in our minds. But the world is scattered with the remnants of other, forgotten settlements. Here in Settlements of the Doomed are twelve tales from the annals of history’s many failures that have as much to tell us about human nature as anything that smacks of success.
