"Lord of the Flies" is fiction. The wreck of the Batavia is history, and it is infinitely worse. In 1629, the Dutch East India Company ship Batavia wrecked off the coast of Australia. Over 200 survivors swam to a tiny coral island. Among them was Jeronimus Cornelisz, a bankrupt pharmacist and a heretic with a silver tongue. While the commander went for help in a longboat, Cornelisz established a reign of terror. He didn't just want to survive; he wanted to play God. He convinced his followers to massacre 125 men, women, and children to save resources, turning the island into a slaughterhouse. This is the harrowing story of how quickly civilization crumbles when a psychopath takes charge in a vacuum, and the incredible rescue mission that raced against time to stop the killing.

Author