The dispute centers around Dejection Island, a tiny speck of land in the South China Sea. Britain owns it, China wants it, and the Americans are determined not to let them have it. Peter Holroyd lives a comfortable but lonely academic life, specializing in Ming and Qing Dynasty maritime voyages and cartography and is asked to determine if any sovereignty claims predate the planting of Britain's flag on the island, which will allow Britain to make a smooth exit. As Holroyd begins his search for evidence, accompanied by a beautiful Chinese assistant, he soon realizes this is no idle academic exercise. The deeper he goes into the past, the more convoluted his present becomes, leading Holroyd to wonder whose future is in greater peril, the residents of Dejection Island or his own.
