"The story of the St. Kilda archipelago - a World Heritage Site and once home to the most remote community in Britain - has long been seen as a tragedy. Sepia images of the 'St. Kilda Parliament', intrepid seabird hunters and abandoned houses have been used to evoke a heroic, ultimately doomed 'struggle for existence' on the edge of the Atlantic. This book, the first general account for thirty years, challenges this conventional wisdom." "Recent archaeological discoveries have revealed that the archipelago was settled by a viable community well before 2000 B.C.; in prehistoric and Norse times, St. Kilda, far from being penalised by 'isolation', may have played a special role within its region. Later written records reveal a well-organised, economically diversified and culturally rich community, which often dealt effectively with outsiders and won their sympathy. Fascinated outsiders usually interpreted St. Kilda in terms of their own world views; eventually the 'natives' behaved as tourists had come to expect, helping to create the iconic island of today."--Jacket.