In this article, Dutch historian Rutger Bregman tells the story of 6 boys who, back in 1965, set out from Tonga in the Pacific on a small boat.

The boys – Sione, Stephen, Kolo, David, Luke and Mano – were all boarding at a strict Catholic boarding school. The oldest was 16, the youngest 13. Bored, they decided escape to Fiji, some 500 miles away. They set sail on a small boat.

After 8 days or so, they ended up on a small island where they stayed until they were rescued by an Australian – 15 months later.

According to Bregman, this story of displaced boys is a more accurate one than that told by William Golding, that humans will cooperate when they need to.

He says: “It’s time we told a different kind of story. The real Lord of the Flies is a tale of friendship and loyalty; one that illustrates how much stronger we are if we can lean on each other.”