Penquins, Potatoes, & Postage Stamps

A Tristan da Cunha Chronicle

Forward HRH Prince Andrew, Duke of York BUCKINGHAM PALACE "Penguins, Potatoes and Postage stamps" is the third book about Tristan da Cunha and its little community written by Allan Crawford. He has served the island over a number of years, 60 to be precise, in several ways. As a surveyor in 1937, a meteorologist with the Royal Navy during the Second World War, as an author of two previous books and postage stamp designer. It is an intriguing title for a book and should attract new readers to admire the islander's sturdy independence and discover how their popular postage stamps have helped them maintain that elusive position in the modern world. It is reputed to be the loneliest island in the world. This book will enable readers to understand how the legacy of Corporal William Glass of Kelso, who remained behind with his wife and family in 1816, when the British garrison was withdrawn, has withstood the test of time. I have sadly never had the opportunity to visit Tristan, as my father has, however my association with the people of the South Atlantic is synonymous with my service in the Falklands along with my later visits to Ascension Island and St. Helena, where the school is named after me. I take this opportunity to wish all the Tristan da Cunha islanders my best wishes as the millennium approaches and hope that all of you who read this book get a feeling of how special Tristan is.