Tristan da Cunha, or Tristan for short, comprises six volcanic islands that sit 1,500 miles (2,400 kilometers) southwest of St. Helena island, another British outpost in the Atlantic.

It was as if half a dozen Robinson Crusoes had been popped suddenly into Times Square. Six leathery, middle-aged men from the gale-swept, potato-patch little island of Tristan da Cunha (pop. 231) ...