Lost and Found in History
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Part of Pier 9's "Lost and Found in History" series, "Ghost Colonies" brings to light the fascinating but rarely told stories of history's lost colonies. Unlike many of the colonial 'success stories' from lands like America, Australia, Canada and South Africa, the ghost colonies were promised lands that failed entirely to live up to their promise. They failed through ignorance, naivety, disease, internal fighting, attacks by native people or by opposing powers - or simply because they were political pawns, callously abandoned by their imperial masters. There are many tales to startle and surprise, sadden and fascinate: Friedrich Nietzsche's sister's attempt to found a 'racially pure' German Aryan colony in the jungles of Paraguay; the unlikely Danish outpost of St Thomas in the Bahamas, founded in 1665 and devastated by a hurricane a year later; and, sixteenth century French Protestants unsuccessfully seeking a haven in Brazil. This compelling mix of adventure, mystery, tragedy, exploration and discovery reveals a largely forgotten area of history.