The Isle of Man is best known as a holiday destination and as the venue of the TT motorcycle races. In recent years, it has also become recognized as an international financial centre for banking and commerce. What is not so well understood is the island's status as a self-governing dependency of the British Crown and its long quest for national self-determination. Now in paperback, "The Isle of Man: Portrait of a Nation", John Grimson tells the story of the island's evolution; beginning with its geological birth pangs in the Cambrian Period some 500 million years ago, right up to the political, social and commercial developments of the modern era. In Part Two of the book, the author takes us on a tour of the island's superb coastal and upland landscapes, and around its historic towns, villages and parishes. With the aid of some 200 illustrations, the book tells of the Isle of Man and its people and of how they came to be what they are today.