Sunken paradises and icy continents, devil's rocks and islands of gold. For centuries, maps of the world's oceans have featured legendary islands that do not exist and never have. Yet, they have repeatedly become the target of daring expeditions: for centuries, sailors, kings, military leaders, pirates, and cartographers believed in their existence and searched for them by ship, on foot, and from the air. Dirk Liesemer gathers thirty of these imaginary islands and recounts their supposed discovery and subsequent debunking: a variety of curious stories that traverse all oceans and span world history. Thus, the Lexicon of Phantom Islands is not only the best starting point for adventurous journeys in the mind but also a chronicle of human frailties. For it is about lust for power, deception, shortsightedness—and very often simply about desire.