My interest in the Isle of Man was sparked by, of all things, David Baddiel's flawed, but surprisingly good novel The Secret Purposes. The novel tells of its use as a location for internment camps in the Second World War where many of Britain's Jews where placed in case they were Nazi sympathisers (I know, I know) The island became both a sort of mild prison and at the same time a place where a fair proportion of the Jewish intelligentsia of Europe were gathered. Consequently it was simultaneously an insufferable condition to be in but also an exciting place to be. Some of its inhabitants later found themselves nostalgic for their prison town.
The Isle of Man though has always had a quirky history. It has been inhabited for about eight thousand years. it has been Norwegian, Scottish, English and now exists as a an odd sort of jumble of treaties and agreements. It is not part of the UK, it is not in the EU, it is not a state, it just is what it is. I would like to go and explore it some. Especially as it is so close by.
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