Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.Sample Book Insights: #1 The story of Beacon Island is a tale of two islands. On October 28, 1628, a 160-foot-long spice ship called the Batavia set sail from the Netherlands. The trading vessel was part of a fleet owned by the Dutch East India Company, a corporate empire that dominated global trade.#2 When the ship broke apart, Cornelisz was one of the few who survived. He eventually made it to the refuge of soggy sand on what is now Beacon Island. The chaos and anarchy of survival instincts reverted to the established order of hierarchy and status.#3 The island of Ata, in the Tongan archipelago, was the home of six boys who ran away from their boarding school in 1965. They stole a fishing boat and started sailing north. On the first day, they only made it five miles before they decided to drop anchor and rest for the night. As they tried to sleep, a strong storm tossed around their boat, ripping away the anchor and destroying the rudder.#4 The boys were shipwrecked on a remote island, and were saved by an Australian named Peter Warner. They were brought back to Tonga, and were reunited with their families.