DESCENT INTO PARADISE

DESCENT INTO PARADISE A JOURNALIST’S MEMOIR OF THE UNTOLD MALDIVES

Author : DANIEL BOSLEY

In the autumn of 2011, the postman-turnedjournalist Daniel Bosley embarked on an unexpected adventure, which started as an internship in London’s Maldives High Commission – the diplomatic mission of the Indian Ocean tourism hotspot. Little did he know that he would soon set off on an odyssey through an imperilled island nation undergoing one of the most tumultuous periods in its history. Over the next seven years, Bosley worked as a journalist in the Maldives, reporting on its volatile political landscape and shattering the picture-perfect view of this supposed paradise. Taking us into a nation of a thousand isles, he reveals a shaded past of sultans, imperialists and Western explorers before a modern-day dictatorship was finally overturned by a democracy that immediately plunged into turmoil. While dissenters and intrepid reporters faced abduction, imprisonment and even death, the climate crisis and Islamist zealots posed ever greater threats to the country’s vulnerable environment and its ancient culture. Richly observed and infused with empathy and essential humour, Descent into Paradise thoroughly alters our understanding of the Maldives, a place where magical waters and surreal skies hide unthinkable dangers even as the struggle for justice risks submersion. Daniel Bosley is a British journalist. He was the editor of the local newspaper Minivan News. His work has also appeared in international publications, including the Economist, Reuters and Himal Southasian. He co-founded the history and culture website Two Thousand Isles with his wife, the photographer Aishath Naj. He currently lives and works in London.