Oceania Books

"The best guidebook [about Lord Howe island] is Australia: An Ecotraveller's Guide by Hannah Robinson," Mark Rowe, Travel Overseas, November 2005.

This is an odd little hybrid, but quite useful. With beautiful photos, like a coffee table book, but small in size; with many maps, but none detailed enough to really use; with travel suggestions, but little "getting there" or "where to stay" information, it is a little bit of this and a little bit of that. What it does, more than say "Watching Wildlife," is put the flora and fauna in an ecological and evolutionary context, explaining why a particular species or area is unusual, and worth seeing. There are many sidebars with interesting natural history, and references to recent scientific studies along this line. But it is also a guide to the highlights of where to see nature in Australia.
Bottom line is, you will need other guides to fully plan an ecotourist trip to Oz, but you will get a lot more out of the trip if you read this book first.

Analysis of the Royal Australian Navy in the 20th century. Third volume in the Australian Centenary History of Defence series. Explores the effects of changing strategic circumstance, technological innovation, and differing national needs and expectations. Reviews Australia's naval involvement in operations that have ranged from global war through to peacekeeping and natural disaster. Includes illustrations, notes on contributors, notes, further reading and index. Editor served for 20 years with the Royal Australian Navy and became the inaugural Director of Naval Historical Studies within the Maritime Studies Program on retirement in 1994. He has authored or edited several books on maritime strategy and naval history. Series editors Professor Peter Dennis and Lieutenant-General John Coates are both connected with the Australian Defence Force Academy.

This is a well written book - Volume 3 of a series
"The Australian Centenary History of Defence Services". This volume is written by 6 contributors including the editor Dr D M Stevens.
All the contributors served in the Royal Australian Navy.
The first chapter deals with the formation of The Commonwealth
Naval Forces from five colonial naval forces and then the creation of the Royal Australian Navy in 1913.
The conflicts in which the navy was engaged are covered in some detail as well as the periods of peace with all the professional and political problems of how the navy should be developed.
There are good black and white photographs as well as fold-out plans of significant ships. There is a list of major ships giving the fate(i.e. sunk sold scuttled etc) of those no longer in service.
Also of value is a list of abbreviations for reference - for example
it may not be known to everyone that a DDG is a "Guided Missile
Destroyer"!

This is an interesting book for someone who has not been to Australia. Although there are variations between Aussie English and Standard Australian English, visitors will mostly encounter SAE. "Aussie" English is used in informal settings and is useful to know - but it is not as common as this book would suggest. The Australian accent may be difficult for some visitors and the use of works describing local peculiarities (beer's, local areas, etc) may seem strange at first. The section on Aboriginal languages is extremely good and gives an accurate introduction to this unique field. However, again be aware that the majority of Australians have no knowledge of Aboriginal languages and very few white Australians actually speak an Aboriginal language. The Anangu languages of the central Australian Outback are spoken by people living in communities in areas that require a permit to visit. You will hear these languages in communities that are attached to visitor centers or by Aboriginal guides to these areas. But do not assume that because book devotes half its content to Aboriginal languages that you will hear these in every day speech. Overall a good introduction to Australian "culture" and speech, but too much emphasize for a book of this kind on Aboriginal languages.

This book is a lot of fun! Our Australian friends really do talk like this.

The man is a legend on Guam - he is "The Ultimate Paramount Boonie Stomping Leader of all time".

If you are planning a trip to Guam, get this book! We lived there for three years and the guide is the bible of Boonie Stomping. Five star rating...

For those who like to get out and see their surroundings, this book is ideal. Dave describes how to get to pretty much everything worth seeing on Guam. Be forewarned though, this book isn't for sissies looking for easily accessible locations. Each hike or 'trek' is rated by level of difficulty, with the most difficult be exactly that. Just because the author managed to get there, don't assume you can. The pictures are great and nicely depict each hike. Some instructions are vague, but if you do the hike, you will understand why. Guam is jungle and sometimes there just aren't any good landmarks. Included GPS coordinates are usefull for those who truly prepared. This book is a must for the outdoors type who visit Guam.

This is a thoughtful, insightful look at the initial contacts between Australia's indigenous people and members of the First Fleet in 1788. There is an intense curiosity, both within this book and in the snippets of evidence from the primary documents Ms Clendinnen refers to, about the meanings of the human interactions observed. Reading through the snippets from Watkin Tench, David Collins, William Bradley and others offers insights into the impacts of foreign cultures on each other.

`Our first shared Australian story is a tragedy of animated imagination, determined friendship and painfully dying hopes.'

One of the tragedies is in the way we view history. Written records, with their framework of events and theories of causation speak for themselves in ways that oral traditions, especially by those dispossessed, often cannot.

At the end of her book, Ms Clendinnen writes: `Here in this place, I think, we are all Australians now.' I am not sure that we are there yet, but there is renewed hope that we can be.

This book is well worth reading for its insights into those initial contacts.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

Inga Clendinnen, one of Australia's most influential historians has written a gripping account of the relationship between the members of the First Fleet and the local "Australians" (as Clendinnen calls the aborigines). She uses the old reports and journals of the crew as source material. The result is a surprising peek at what really went on in those first 5 years, how Governor Arthur Phillip worked to establish friendly contacts, the clash of cultures so different from each other, and what happened to his efforts. Clendinnon is not as academic as she has been with prior works, but neither is this a beach read. It's a serious history book of real merit which also happens to be very well written.

A photo essay journey across Australia focuses on some of the "world's weirdest and most wonderful" animals. Sharp, lovely color photos are clearly labelled. There is brief information on each creature. Two pages at the end give a background of the country itself.

This is a wonderful book! The text leads us on a journey from early morning (before sunrise) through the night, traveling throughout Australia. Stunning photographs with bright colors, show the animals and sea life of Australia. The entire focus is on animals and sea creatures. The storyline is captivating and interesting. My children loved the text, which held their interest completely, and the supporting photographs. An example of the creative text is this line "Suddenly, a sea eagle explodes on the scene, dive-bombing before you."

A great read and a different style of introduction to the wildlife of Australia than most other nonfiction books about this subject!

Think of this book as a "Catch-22" for the Navy at the tail end of World War II. In fact, near the end of the book some of the officers have an interesting discussion regarding the bomb and its effect on the war, and the world, but let me warn you, the outcome might not be what one might expect. This book has all the colorful characters and oddball situations - my favorite being the daily delivery of the photo opportunity pictures to visiting politicians. There are some deeper tones here, and the humanity is never forgotten. I recommend this book to anyone who wants, and can appreciate, the snapshot of history from the inside, albeit at times with tongue planted firmly in cheek but never forgetting there is a bigger purpose.

Well, I did read this book repeatedly in the late 50's and early 60's, so I cannot in good conscience rate it lower than 4 stars. It is a moderately entertaining, and by now quaintly old-fashioned, story of some admen pressed into U. S. Navy Public Relations service in the Pacific. While everyone else fought the Axis, they fought the Air Force for their fair share of public recognition. The funniest bit is where the PR guys launch a "Typical Young Navy Man" campaign and select their candidate sight unseen, merely because his name contains two famous naval historical figures--Farragut and (John Paul) Jones. When he comes ashore for briefing, he proves slovenly, foul-mouthed, and all but intractable. The movie version memorably bleeped out his every use of the f-word with a ship's horn that sounded every bit as foul as what it was masking!

...Esta publicación es definitivamente la mejor opción para tener una visión general de la isla. Contiene hermosas fotos de la isla y sus habitantes, así como un excelente texto escrito por un arqueólogo, quien fue Director del Parque Nacional Rapa-Nui. En resumen un trabajo serio, completo y artísticamente hermoso

An excellent addition to the Rapa Nui library, with glorious color plates showing every aspect of the island. So many Easter Island books focus wholly on Easter Island's past, and the moai statues. This one includes excellent aerial views of the whole island and island life as well as its archeological splendors. A few too many of those pretty girls than can really be justified though, Carlos!

I agree with Gerardo... This book will give you unvarnished observations from new visitors to the south east Pacific immediately after WWI. The descrptions of Hall's visit to the Paumotus (Tuamotus) are really priceless today, as is his account of Hotel Tiare and Lavaina, before her death. If you enjoy this, then see if you can get a copy of My Island Home. The island parts are very good (especially Singh, A Song of Six Pence). Also read The Forgotten One, and Other Stories, a darker look at the affects and outcomes of caucasians in the islands.

In this book, the authors make what seems to be an autobiographical account of a year of traveling and adventure throughout the South Seas. They decide to travel in different directions and meet again after a few months. They write in turn about their own experiences and stories as narrated to them by other characters, covering a wide range of stories, from the mere description of island's habits, to beautiful native stories, to what must be the most thrilling and yet poetic treasure hunt I have read. Possibly a slightly minor work from this authors, better known for the Bounty books. Yet, if you like the mystery of the South Seas a little more than its adventure, add that fifth star to my rating. Please bear in mind my comments are based on a first edition of this book, dated 1921, which I own. I write the review in the hope that it will be useful since there is none to date, but I have not actually read this new edition.

I have been using Frommers for many years. So naturally I chose this book to prepare for our first trip to Australia. It is the only guide book that you will need, though you might want to pick up a free AAA guide after you arrive if you need hotel info as Frommers can't cover every property.

This book will provide basic info on all the major sites. In addition, you will find a great deal of info on smaller towns that you may visit if you decide to do any driving. It was invaluable for providing info on the fly.

If you buy one guidebook, this one should be it.

This well-organized book breaks down places to see in Australia by thier states. The sixteen Best of Australia lists; descriptive reviews of hotels and suggested itineraries; and 'Fun Facts' such as where to cuddle a koala are interesting to note. I am already planning to go back for a second visit because I cannot see it all in two weeks.