Island on Edge: The Great Nicobar Crisis brings together a set of essays and articles, many of which were originally published in Frontline. Taken together, they form a deeply troubling account of a suite of large-scale development projects proposed for Great Nicobar Island: a transshipment port, a greenfield international airport, power infrastructure, and an associated township. These are being advanced under the banner of strategic and national security interests, framed as essential to India’s geopolitical positioning in the region. The book, however, asks us to look beyond that framing.