As ordinary standards of behaviour collapse, the whole world the boys know collapses with them - the world of cricket, homework and adventure stories - and another world is revealed beneath, primitive and terrible. This is the story about a group of ordinary small boys marooned on a coral island. The compelling story about a group of very ordinary small boys marooned on a coral island. At first it seems as though it is all going to be great fun; but the fun before long becomes furious and life on the island turns into a nightmare of panic and death. As ordinary standards of behaviour collapse, the whole world the boys know collapses with them - the world of cricket, homework and adventure stories - and another world is revealed beneath, primitive and terrible.