The New York Times bestselling author of Krakatoa and The Professor and the Madman takes readers on a quirky and charming tour of the last outpost of the British empireOutposts is Simon Winchester's journey to find the vanishing empire, "on which the sun never sets." In the course of a three-year, 100,000 mile journey--from the chill of the Antarctic to the blue seas of the Caribbean, from the South of Spain and the tip of China to the utterly remote specks in the middle of gale-swept oceans--he discovered such romance and depravity, opulence and despair tht he was inspired to write what may be the last contemporary account of the British empire. Written with Winchester's captivating style and breadth, here are conversations and anecdotes, myths and political analysis, scenery and history--a poignant and colorful record of the lingering beat of what was once the heart of the civilized world.