Small Earthquakes

Description

Small Earthquakes uncovers the fascinating story of Britain’s forgotten connections with South America, from the Atacama Desert to Tierra del Fuego, Easter Island to South Georgia.

Blending travel writing, history and reportage, award-winning journalist and author Shafik Meghji tells a tale of footballers and pirates, nitrate kings and wool barons, polar explorers and cowboys, missionaries and radical MPs. From a ghost town in one of the world’s driest deserts to a far-flung ranch in the sub-polar tundra; rusting whaling stations in the South Atlantic to an isolated railway built by convicts; the southernmost city on the planet to a crumbling port known as the ‘Jewel of the Pacific’, he brings to life the past, present and future of this remarkable continent. He sheds light on Britain’s impact on Argentina, Chile and Uruguay, from sparking wars, forging national identities and redrawing borders to its tangled role in their colonisation and decolonisation. But it also reveals how these countries, in turn, have shaped Britain in profound and unexpected ways, from Fray Bentos to the Falklands.

Drawing on more than fifteen years of living, working and travelling in South America, Meghji offers a sweeping account of an overlooked—but enduringly relevant—shared history.

Reviews

‘A fascinating—and often shocking—book full of hidden histories and unlikely characters: guano barons, gaucho lairds, imperial ghosts and human zoos. Shafik Meghji must be one of the most exciting travel writers working today.’ — Cal Flyn, author of Islands of Abandonment

‘Small Earthquakes takes us through so many rich and delightful stories, while also illuminating deeper truths about colonial legacies and cultural exchange. Shafik Meghji has unearthed a fresh perspective on Latin America that will resonate with readers far beyond Britain.’ — Taran N. Khan, author of Shadow City: A Woman Walks Kabul

‘Combining vivid firsthand reporting with granular historical detail, Meghji takes the reader on an engrossing and illuminating journey through the little-remembered history of British South America.’ — Matthew Carr, author of Darwin’s Savages: Science, Race and the Conquest of Patagonia

‘From football stadiums to Welsh-style Patagonian tea-rooms, from pirates’ haunts to Victorian-era foundries, this is a kaleidoscopic tour of Latin America. A fascinating book packed with detail and intriguing insights, and bearing the marks of its author’s extensive knowledge of the region.’ — Nicholas Jubber, author of Epic Continent and The Fairy Tellers

‘Filled with larger-than-life characters and rich observation, this is a colourful, captivating and clear-eyed odyssey through the entangled histories of South America and Britain. A must-read for anyone interested in how this corner of the globe, though never formally painted red, became deeply enmeshed in the British Empire.’ — Laurence Blair, author of Patria: Lost Countries of South America

‘A deeply researched and refreshingly nuanced look at how Britain changed South America, but also the role of the continent’s original inhabitants in that story. A powerful blend of reportage and historical investigation.’ — Mark Johanson, author of Mars on Earth: Wanderings in the World’s Driest Desert

Author(s)

Shafik Meghji is an award-winning journalist and travel writer. The co-author of more than forty-five guidebooks, his bylines include National Geographic Traveller, BBC Travel, Lonely Planet, Geographical magazine and The Guardian. His first book, Crossed Off the Map, was shortlisted for the Edward Stanford Travel Book of the Year 2023.