A Robinson Crusoe wannabe - Rated 
"The only positive thing about flying from Luton airport is that wherever you are flying to is guaranteed to feel like paradise in comparison. I can highly recommend it for trips to Chernobyl, Baghdad and Chechnya." - Author Ben Fogle in OFFSHORE
This is the second volume I've read lately that disparages Luton. So, what's that all about, you think? Personally, I've not been there during any of my many trips to the U.K., so I can't say.
Ben Fogle also brought us THE TEATIME ISLANDS, in which he recounts his landings on an assortment of the last remaining island possessions of the old British Empire, a narrative that resembles yet another book on the same theme, OUTPOSTS by Simon Winchester. Both are excellent diversions for the armchair traveler.
In this volume, Fogle continues the insular theme by visiting a number of islands around the perimeter of Great Britain that are, or were at one time, subject to Crown rule: Sark, Caldey, Bardsey, the Skerries, Isle of Man, Muck, Eigg, Gruinard, St. Kilda, Shetland, Heligoland, Sealand (which is actually an old WWII gun platform in the Thames Estuary), and Rockall.
There's no photo section in OFFSHORE, which isn't surprising since it's the rare travel essay that incorporates such even though it's a logical inclusion. What's worse, and which causes me to knock off a star, is the absence even of maps showing where these places are. I guess the author assumes the reader can look them up on the Web, like I did, but I miss the effort he could have made to make an otherwise pretty good read better.
The context of the narrative is Fogle's expressed wish to own his personal private island - a place to get away from it all - much like Adam Nicolson succeeds in doing in SEA ROOM. Unfortunately, this desire eventually seems more a gimmick upon which to construct the text than a serious ambition, especially when reading the last chapter about Rockall. I mean, a post-it note and duct tape? Puhleeze!
Fogle's sense of humor makes him an immensely readable writer. But, in this case, a more substantial, more informative, and equally congenial book is perhaps one by Charlie Connelly, ATTENTION ALL SHIPPING, in which he visits interesting and/or isolated places that fall within the areas covered by the BBC's venerable Shipping Forecast.
Not so much a book, more a collection of notes - Rated 
All right, I enjoyed this book, well sort of. It filled in time quite nicely. Oh, but it could have been so much better. There wasn't any real connection between the chapters and seemed to have been written "when he had a moment to spare". It appeared that fast chunks of real estate had been left out and forgotten for no obvious reason. No mention of Orkneys for example, nor for that matter much about many Scottish islands at all. Re-name it "Bits of Offshore I happened to think of", and it might have worked better, or at least been more honest. Some bits were just silly, the child's plastic boat, trying to land on Rockall and other examples. There was no uniting theme, no reason to pick one island rather than another. Could do better is probably a fair assesment.
Disappointing retread of Attention All Shipping by Charlie Connelly - Rated
I enjoyed Fogle's The Teatime Islands: Adventures in Britain's Faraway Outposts so had reasonably high hopes of this one. However its a poor second best to the much superior Attention All Shipping. No great insights, and fully off sloppy editing and simple errors. A few examples
1. Having established that St Kilda is the name for the group of islands the picture caption talks about approaching THE island of St Kilda. 2. There is a picture of "the Hebrides" from where he set off to St Kilda - didn't he recall his departure point, or was it just a stock photo of a random island? 3. The stuff about sailing to Brecqhou in a toy inflatable boat is unrealisitc and cringeworthy - its meant to be funny I think. 4. In a passage about folk raising £500k in donations he mentions the single largest donation of £1M!! er did that mean that there were at least £500k of minus donations!? 6. He talks of bidding for a Scottish island, and how the Scottish system allows bidders to be played off against each other - quite the opposite in fact the sealed bid system prevents this ghastly English practice from applying North of the border. I don't think this book would have irritated me so much if his earlier book hadn't been a charming read. I think this was churned out too quickly. Don't waste your money - or more importantly your time - read Attention All Shipping instead.
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