Island Attractions? Travel writing on the Cyclades (Greece) from the Middle Ages until modern day.

Western culture has been thinking with islands for many centuries, though most prominently from the end of the 18th century onwards. Over time, islands have become ever-changing projection surfaces for a wide range of human longings. Like their Pacific and Atlantic counterparts, the Cycladic islands in Greece were first ignored or even despised before becoming paradisal or utopian locations. While islands combine several features that greatly appeal to visitors (such as perceived boundedness, smallness and remoteness), these features are by no means unique to the Cyclades in particular or indeed islands in general. In the end, the Cycladic islands appear to have become special places in our culture not because they are islands or because they are located in Greece, but because they offer a heady mix of sensorial and emotional encounters in a Mediterranean location far removed from our daily stresses.