Penguin Island

Penguin Island (1908; French: L'Île des Pingouins) is a satirical fictional history by Nobel Prize winning French author Anatole France. It is about a fictitious island of great auks. The history begins when a wayward Christian missionary monk accidentally lands on the island and sees the great auks as a sort of Greek pre-Christian pagan society. Partly blind, he mistakes the animals for people and baptizes them. This mistake causes a problem for The Lord who normally only allows people to be baptized, so he resolves it by converting the great auks to people and giving them a soul. Thus begins the great auk history. Scattered throughout are allusions to real historical people such as Columba and Saint Augustine, as well as fictitious characters who represent historical people. Penguin Island is a critique of human nature. Reproduction of the 1909 Edition in English.