Oceania Books

A great combination of thoroughness and readability. Bellich offers insight into the makeup of a New Zealander and supports his positions with plenty of detail.

James Belich, one of the world's leading historians in New Zealand Maori history, (the other is Michael King), writes this must have for any New Zealand history enthusiast or student. I can imagine it being a bit dry if history is not your thing. If it is, however, this is a great book. Clear, concise, and masterfully wielded, the information in this book is crucial to the subject of early NZ history. Though scholarly in nature and heavily cited, it is entirely readable and is worth the price for it's bibliography alone.

Belich is the leading historian in NZ. he has previously made his name by reappraising the way we view the Maori Land wars.

Here he has undertaken to write the only general history of New Zealand. This is supposed to be Volume one, though there is no set date for vloume two to appear.

He mixes passion for his subject with a great turn of phrase - for example the way he describes New Zealand as being the product of two sets of boat peoples (Maori and Pakhier) is poingent given the way in Maori mythology Aoteroa is said to be a canoe and a fish and also given how Kiwis refer to new arrivals as "boaties".

Although somtimes this weighty book gets bogged down with lists of facts and accademic arguments, none the less, its both a great read and the seminal work of Kiwi history.

The Maori of New Zealand is an outstanding resource for studying this cultural part of New Zealand. It is kid-friendly, yet packed with pictures and information. My third graders enjoyed it immensely. The shipper, Topshelf Treasures, has been excellent in resolving an issue that arose in the shipping of the book.

Good overview, but I was hoping for more detailed information about thier culture.

I am sure I am not the only one who checked out this First Peoples volume on "The Maori of New Zealand" after being enthralled by the film "Whale Rider." Author Steve Theunisen is a freelance writer living in Masterton, North Island who has been a lifelong student of Maori and Pacific Island culture, and whose wife belongs to the Ngai Te Rangi Nui Maori tribe, so this volume has the added virtue of being written by someone with strong times to the Maori. Such ethos rarely applies to these type of books, so I like to appreciate it when it does.

The Maori are the descendants of Polynesian ancestors who first settled along the coastal regions of New Zealand about 1,500 years ago. The early Maori were hunters, fishers, and farmers who relied on the bounty of the land and water of New Zealand to survive. The arrival of Europeans resulted in a cultural integration that finds many Maori living a modern lifestyle today while keeping their heritage and centuries-old traditions alive.

This book is presented as a series of two-page spreads on topics that are devoted to both the geography of New Zealand ("Land at the Bottom of the World," "New Zealand Wildlife") along with the history ("The Great Migration," "European Contact") and culture ("Traditional Homes," "The Art of the Maori") of the Maori. Each spread is illustrated with color photography, although there are also some historic woodcuts, etchings and photographs as well. The result is a lot of information provided in a concise, colorful, and compelling way.

Other titles in the First People Series look at "The Aboriginal Peoples of Australia," "The Ainu of Japan," "The Inuit of Canada," "The Sami of Northern Europe," "The Yanomami of South America," and "The Zulu of Africa." There are about another dozen titles, and as you can see they cover all of the inhabited continents. If the rest of the volumes are as good as this one then these is an excellent series that young students can turn to for lots of information about the First Peoples of the earth.

Convicts were the first European settlers in Australia. To officials' surprise, convicts' children did not inherit "depraved" genes, but given a fair chance they thrived and became responsible citizens.

Early Australia was a rough and tumble place. In the early days when men vastly outnumbered women. There was wilderness, desert, vast expanses of country, ranches isolated by great distances. Cities grew up on the coasts: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane.

A "fair go" was an integral part of the vision of early Australia--at least a fair go for Caucasions. Indigenous people were treated terribly, killed off, persecuted, their culture nearly eradicated as children were separated from their parents.

In the 1960's this changed, and a more humane policy was adapted towards indigenous people. At the same, Australia was absorbing millions of refugees and immigrants from a multitude of countries.

Australia's underlying premise of "a fair go" has resulted in admirable social policies: health insurance, free education, old-age pensions, and more. It has resulted in a society to which other countries can look as a model.

REVIEW FOR MULTIETHNIC AUSTRALIA by Celeste MacLeod

This is an engaging, extremely well written informative book about Australia, a country about which there are many myths, many negative stereotypes, and much misunderstanding.

MacLeod gets to the heart of the enigma that is Australia by the way she relates the beginnings of that nation to the changes that have occurred over the years. The basic strength of Australia as a parliamentary democracy lies in the concept that that there should be "a fair go" for everyone.

Without hitting the reader on the head, MacLeod shows us how forward looking policies, like a secret ballot, old-age pensions, and votes for women, all in place by 1902, plus since the 1970s, recognition of respect for different ethnicities, made it possible for Australia to grow and prosper. She does not gloss over past inequities, but she shows how positive progressive leadership leads to economic and social prosperity. I was engrossed in her description of how Australia accepted five million immigrants from two hundred and forty countries, including Asia, Africa and the Middle East after World War II, and helped them become integrated into Australian society. This is no small feat, but it worked because of a national multicultural policy that encouraged immigrants, as well as indigenous Aborigines, to retain their traditional cultures while becoming loyal Australians.

MacLeod shows the reader how the current regressive leadership of the Australian government is destroying many years of progress. It's so easy to wreck progressive social policy and so difficult to build and sustain it. She holds out hope for Australia, however, based on the unifying concept of "a fair go" for everyone.

This was so interesting that I couldn't put it down.

Rhoda Curtis, Instructor/Consultant, CalStateU-East Bay, Hayward

Multiethnic Australia: Its History and Future is essential reading for anyone interested in the history of this fascinating continent as well as those who might be considering immigration. The book covers a vast range of time and topics without being ponderous. It triggers the reader's desire to know the Australia of the future better: either in a sequel or through its amazingly diverse people, who call Australia home well into the 21st century.

This book like the 1984 film dispels the myth of the evil Capt Bligh and the heroic and dashing Mr. Christian. William T Bligh was the greatest naval officer in history. The mutiny itself was not shocking in as much as Bligh's command of it's open launch and the 2600 mile journey he made in it with his loyal officers and men. Such a feat would be incredible today given the size of the Bounty's launch and the meager food and water given to them by the mutineers.

You are going to buy this book, of course you are. How can you not, for it is the actual book written by the notorious Capt. Bligh himself. If you are the least bit interested in the voyage that became the Mutiny on the Bounty and its aftermath, you've got to get to it. This book is fascinating not so much because of the description of the mutiny because Captain Bligh surprisingly has very little to say on the subject. No, you'll find this fascinating stuff because it allows one a glimpse into life in the South Pacific hundreds of years ago, and how miserable a castaway crew can become. You will also be able to form your own opnions about the sort of man Captain Bligh was. It is an interesting and challenging task to do so, however, because the man is careful to conceal most of his personality and emotions behind a rather dry and unimaginative journeyman's description of this adventure. Actually, it is this mechanical and rather bloodless recitation of facts surrounding what was a most terrifying and terrific adventure that clues one in that Captain Bligh, despite being an extraordinary seaman was certainly obtuse and even a bit of a creep (pompous ass, at the very least); at least he made my skin crawl at times. He also caused me to marvel at his many skills and tenacity (orneriness?), and even he was unable to completely suppress his emotions and allow himself free rein to personalize a few of the incidents that occured along the way. Few people could have accomplished his feat, that is to sail more than one thousand miles across the ocean in a small wooden boat filled with a hopeless and starving crew always teetering on the brink of disaster. It's also funny that Bligh turned up in all sorts of places around the globe in his life time and one finds him sprinkled throughout history. Did you know, for instance, that he commanded a ship under Lord Nelson in at least one of that man's most famous battles? He also accompanied the famed Captain Cook on one of his famous voyages which is how he got the job on the Bounty. I've ranked this only four stars because the book is really not a joy to read, Captain Bligh's skills most certainly lay in the nautical world. In this day and age, he probably would have found a ghost writer to lively up his self. Yet, this book is essential grist for the mill of Bounty hunters.

In The Mutiny on Board HMS Bounty is about man named William Bligh who as a boy of only 16 starts sailing on British ships. The events that happen to this man happen mostly on the South Seas. William eventually becomes a captain of a vessel called the HMS Bounty. He never expected the most dastardly dead that men can do on a ship would happen to him especially by the one man he trusted most Fletcher Christian. Christian was an officer that Bligh had taught everything to he was going to be his successor. Evidently Fletcher Christian wanted to be the successor earlier than planned.

As I started reading The Mutiny on Board HMS Bounty I thought that Bligh was a tuff commanded that treated his men very harshly. As I read on though, he may not have treated them harsh enough to keep them from committing mutiny. They committed the worst crime a sailor can commit out on the open seas. A crime that is punishable by death. If he would have treated them more severely when they took extra food and water that he ordered them not to take they may not have committed what they did. "I found necessary to punish Mathew Quintal, one of the seamen, for insolence and mutinous behavior" (William Bligh 40).

William Bligh is the only captain that I know of that could captain a rotten, smaller vessel that barely fits all eighteen of his men, fight off hostile natives and eventually make back to England. He also managed to keep his men's spirits up when the times were really tough. He even gave away part of his rations to keep his men healthy. "Come back, man! You'll be killed!" (Bligh 164).

One part of this book that bothered me the whole time until the very end was, "Why did then men of the Bounty commit mutiny and leave the captain with the mostly skilled workers when they new if the men that were set adrift made it back home they would be hung when found by the English government. "When we were put of the Bounty, we had only enough food for five days. The mutineers must have decided that we could find shelter only at the Friendly Islands" (Bligh 234).

I think readers learn a lot from this book. Not only is it a great book it teaches readers that if you believe in what you want to achieve anything can happen. The men on the little raft believed and they made it to the English settlements and eventually made it all the way back to England which was a wonderful achievement. These men believed in there leader (William Bligh) and he came through for them by leading them to safety and only losing six men.

Excellent information and pictures. A great help when planning your trip to Australia and a wonderful memory of the places we saw and heard about while visiting Australia.

While Magellen writes a good description of the book, I found it useless because Magellen has never been to Australia and therefore has never used the book. Moreover, I can skim it myself to see if it will work for me. It would be much more helpful if reviewers actually have used a guidebook!

This is my first national Geographic travel guide, from an interesting author. He once biked 10,000 miles around Australia, getting into remote areas where he was all alone, 100 miles from the nearest habitation just on his bicycle. As he went, his travel commentaries were published in the Australian papers, and the story was even picked up by the international newspapers at the time, making him something of an international celebrity as a travel writer. He now lives in Victoria and freelances for various Australian magazines and publications. It's more topically oriented the say, the DK guide, with perhaps fewer subjects covered but with more coverage per article. This is just my subjective impression but I offer it for what it's worth. The DK guide's look busier per page and this one is less.

I learned some interesting things from this book. To mention just a few, Australia is the oldest continent, which is why the interior is so flat, and why it contains so many marsupial species, which died out elsewhere when the couldn't compete with the more advanced placental mammals. Culturally, it is a land of contrasts, with more modern looking cities with newer buildings than most American cities, which contrasts with the primitive aboriginal lifestyle which still exists to some extent in North Australia. And the rugged, macho image of Australian settlers, outbackers, and bushrangers contrasts with the fact that Sydney has an even higher gay and lesbian population than San Francisco, and their Gay and Lesbian parade is an international event.

Before getting into the regional sections, there is a 72 page introduction that covers history, culture, the land, food, and drink, the arts, and flora and fauna. There's a lot of good info here and this is a longer introduction compared to most travel guides that I've seen.The remaining 299 pages cover the 8 major provinces or regions of Australia, including the island of Tasmania, which I was especially interested in. Each section includes the most popular sites and things to do, with beautiful photos and well written text.

I am especially interested in Tasmania, and I learned that it is easy to see the sights there, as there is a 600-mile road that goes around the entire perimeter of the island, and most of the interesting sites can be accessed from it. As I am planning a trip to Australia sometime soon, I was interested to learn this, since most of Australia is difficult to get to since the distances are so vast. Just Western Australia, still one of the most remote and sparsely settled regions, is three times the size of Texas.

Sydney of course gets a special section by itself, and you could spend the rest of your life just seeing the sites there. I was most interested in Sydney, Tasmania, and also Cairns, the Great Barrier Reef, and the Kuranda Rainforest in the north as the three other main places to visit on my trip, and this guide was very helpful for researching that. Other helpful features of this guide include an Australia map on the inside front cover, a Sydney transit map, and many regional and town maps for you convenience. There is a quick table of contents on the inside front cover also. All in all a nice done and enjoyable guide to the fascinating land of Down Under.

A good book with lots of information on B&B's throughout New Zealand.
Also small enough to take with you.

The guide is organized geographically, even within a region, which is not especially helpful to those who don't know their way around. Properties are not listed alphabetically within a town. Alphabetically by town then name within a region would be more useful. The blurbs for each property are written by the owners so there's a wide range of value in the text. Addition of a set of ideograms to describe basic amenities would also be a great help in identifying a property meeting one's criteria.

This book was very helpfull, especially with the pictures of the B&B's, in making our desicions where to stay. We have been to New Zealand before, but this was a great help. If one is going to travel NZ on their own, I would recomend this.

definitely a must for a n.z. bound cycling adventure. this book keeps it all simple and clear without what you don't need. i cycled 4100km in n.z. by mixing and matching routes from the book and found it very useful. the only down side is the not very convenient format and the lack of good route maps which is not a big deal altogether. good luck.

Yes, I am a Kiwi [native New Zealander]and have found this book extremely valuable for planning a tour around both islands. I could find out all the information, but why reinvent the wheel?? It is all laid on here..including an insight into our customs and language.

In brief..... you want to bike around NZ??? GET THIS BOOK!!

In February '97 me, my bike, and this book covered 1300 miles of New Zealand. I used this book extensively to plan my route by mixing & matching the routes covered in the book. obtw, in New Zealand you don't need a map, you only have a couple of roads to choose from and this book covers just about everything you need. I highly recommend it and appreciate the effort Bruce put into the book.

Maddie is off again on another global adventure with her Aunt Sid. After hitting the green hills of Ireland, they're traveling to the other side of the world to Papua New Guinea. Sid wants to write an article about how the country is unsafe for Americans and also plans to research the AIDS epidemic that is a major crisis for the country. While there, Maddie meets Lydia, who has been adopted by missionaries. It is through her that Maddie learns really what it is like to live in a country that really needs to hear about God's word.

Ok honest time here again: I didn't know anything about Papau New Guinea other than where it was located. My boyfriend's brother lived there this year for 3 months for his job but other than that I have never paid any attention to this country. However after reading this book I learned so much about the AIDS crisis. I had no idea that this was such a huge problem in Papau New Guinea. My heart goes out to those affected by the disease there especially those that are suffering due to rape. This book has a more serious tone than the first one in the series. This time Maddie and Sid are not here on vacation. They're not relaxing or looking for a good time. I really liked learning about the country and the different culture that is there. Reading about missionaries always inspires me. I greatly admire those who are able to get out of their comfort zones to help others get to know about their faith. It was nice though to read about Lydia's family with their comforts of an American home amid a foreign country. I also enjoyed reading about the layover in Hawaii and I share Maddie's confusion about the International Date Line. This series so makes me want to go traveling across the world. Another excellent work from Melody Carlson.

Maddie Chase will be celebrating her "birthday-that-never-was" in Papua, New Guinea with her Aunt Sid, who is there on a journalist assignment. Maddie is a journalist major at her college and her Aunt Sid wants to help her with her dreams. Papua, New Guinea sounds a lot scarier than Ireland did (she accompanied her Aunt Sid there previously), but Maddie is convinced she can handle it.

The trip there is memorable. Her Aunt Sid surprises her with a couple nights stay in Hawaii before they go to Papua. There they enjoy the surf and sun, and also do further research on how unsafe Papua is for Americans--especially women. Not to mention, the AIDS epidemic there is at epidemic proportions. Will Maddie be able to reach out to the island people?

Notes from a Spinning Planet--Papua, New Guinea is written in first person, but is more telling than showing. At times it feels like it's a big information dump from all the research the author did on Papua, and it removed any life from the story. Still, it is interesting reading about a foreign country and about the AIDS epidemic there and how missionaries and other health professionals are trying to reach the people. I was interested to see what direction Aunt Sid's article about the country would take, since her boss didn't give her a specific angle to cover.

The faith message is woven in and isn't preachy. The setting is expertly described, including the varying colors of the sea. If it weren't for the flat characters, this book would be excellent. Nevertheless, if you want to learn about a different culture and the problems plaguing it, this book is good to read. Great for home-schooled students for their geography and social studies classes.

I would like to read the previous title: Notes from a Spinning Planet--Ireland, and the upcoming title: Notes from a Spinning Planet--Mexico.

Armchair Interview says: Unique look at travel to out-of-the-way places.

Twenty old Maddie Chase wonders how you're gonna keep her down on the farm after she seen Ireland while accompanying her Aunt Sid on an investigation into Catholic-Protestant peace camps. Unlike the trepidation during her first trek, this time when Aunt Sid invites Maddie to accompany her on her next assignment, she is euphoric feeling prepared for the world.

However, Maddie is stunned with what she and her Aunt Sid find in Papua, New Guinea in the South pacific. AIDS is a pandemic leading killer and life is cheap. Maddie tries to bring solace through Jesus to those dying from AIDS while the Lord enables her to see a beautiful country in crisis.

The second journey is an insightful tale that enables teens and adults to better understand the AIDS crisis in an impoverished third world nation. Some readers might find it difficult to see hope and inspiration as Maddie does in the Lord as the age old question of why bad things occur to good people consistently surfaces. Melody Carson provides a deep discerning tale that surfaces a global catastrophe using New Guinea as the conflicting model of hope and despair.

Harriet Klausner

Many non-Australians won't even have heard of Fremantle. Freo to the locals of Perth. Dowson must have expended much sweat in compiling this collection of old photos of the port of Perth. Especially impressive for the earliest photos around 1850. Daguerrotypes had only been recently invented. And Perth and Freo had so few people in the 1850s, that it is remarkable that any photos were taken, had survived, and been tracked down by the author.

It may not be readily apparent from the book, but Freo and Perth were different places, separated by undeveloped bushland, even up till World War 2. Most of the background and buildings in the photos are now absent. Except perhaps for a few buildings in the heart of Freo.

The book is also accurate in portraying the dominant Anglo-Irish background of Freo's inhabitants. Wasn't much diversity back then. The photos end in 1950. Just as a wave of immigration from southern and eastern Europe were to commence. Then, later, from Asia. Giving current Freo a strong multiethnic flavour. (Especially Italian.)

This is an exceptional book. It is a fine work of art as well as a serious photographic history of a "British empire" seaport. I would recommend it to anyone who is fascinated by the lives of people long gone and who also wants to marvel at some wonderful photography. Many thanks to the author, John Dowson, for providing such a treasure.

I gave this book five stars because I am the author. Looking at the fact that the book is rating just under the 3 millionth most popular book on Amazon, it seems like it needs some help. The problem with photographic books on small cities (Fremantle has only 30,000 people) is that it is very hard to get people outside the city interested. Pity, because any lover of old photographs would enjoy the 250 approx images in the book dating from 1850 to 1950. My favourite one is a 1919 one of an open truck full of cauliflowers, all stacked on top of each other with no net or cover. The truck has solid tyres and the driver (sitting calmly at the wheel in a coat and tie) has brought his load into town over rough limestone roads.

Cameras 100 years ago often produced better images than the technological marvels of today. This book was produced regardless of cost to the highest standards, though I did endure a struggle to get the publisher not to charge me an extra $30,000 for the special 170gsm cream paper I chose. The book won the Western Australian Premier's Prize for non fiction and the first edition sold out in weeks. What you are buying now is the revised edition, with the errors removed and 8 extra pages put in in a fit of generosity. Most of the errors were tiny ones, but there was a real beauty- one photo featured a hotel which is actually in Geraldton, not Fremantle. That was dumb, but then some clown had written Fremantle all over the bottom of the photograph and the hotel plans checked out.

The book is big and heavy- don't drop it on your toes. But still, I like it. I hope you do.

Horwitz does a wonderful job of depicting ordinary life in Australia. However, his sense of humour adds a brilliant quality to the essay which makes an ordinary account of his travels something far from mundane. I recommend this book for anyone interested in travel essays or a good laugh.

Horwitz has captured the Outback and its weird bunch of denizens down to it's last blowfly and tortured vowel. His descriptions of unlikely places such as (the mostly underground) Coober Pedy and(unfortunately mostly above-ground) Mt. Isa are uncannily accurate and appropriately scathing. For all those about to travel the Outback; those who have been lucky enough to do so; or those who merely wish they were among the aformentioned. (Should be read along with the Lonely Planet Guide to Outback Australia.)

There are constraints to Australian road travel - the chief one being that the cities, hence, the roads, hug the coasts. There are dangers, desolation, loneliness, above all, heat. And flies. It takes some courage to face these conditions alone, even in modern times. Tony Horwitz faced them alone and on foot - some of the time. The result was a fantastic voyage and a superb account.

Horwitz is an unlikely prospect for an Australian adventurer. A transplanted Yank [Washington, DC to Sydney], urban [New York City to, again, Sydney] and Jewish [rather anomalous in the Outback]. These conditions might fatally impair the less adventurous, but Horwitz can "boldly go" [as he did in a later book] and so he does. With singular dedication, he even starts his trek heading West from Sydney past Dubbo to the Alice. With no direct Sydney to Alice route, the journey is circuitous, a fine introduction to the later expedition. Here, Horwitz encounters people and displays his talent at recording them. The limited number of roads implies limited options and few rides. It's a closed world and he becomes "the crazy Yank we heard about back in Nevertire."

Constricted view doesn't inhibit Horwitz' abilities. He has an advantage over many travel writers - he's a journalist first and a traveller after. A perceptive eye and a talented pen record his reaction to the land of Australia. And the people he encounters who become the focus of his attention. He's good with people, drawing them out - fulfilling the image of the chatty Yank, entertaining, but somehow provocative. The drivers, pub keepers and drinkers respond to his novelty. He records them with lively asides, keeping your interest with every page. 'Surely, these can't be real people,' you may think. No worries - Horwitz has captured them intimately, intruding only lightly as they respond to his queries.

A poignant chapter, describing his search for a Jewish family in Broome with whom to celebrate Passover, is the highlight of the book. Noting the town's multiracial population, he observes: "Australians . . . seem uncomfortable when the subject of Judaism is raised." He attributes the feeling purely to ignorance, not prejudice, a welcome change from attitudes toward the "Abos." Horowitz, although claiming atheism, remains drawn to the family assemblage of the seder. Alone in Broome, he discovers a new level of solitude - in this polyglot community, Jews are rarer than jewels. He pores over the telephone directory which only displays "an Anglo-Saxon litany of Browns, Harrisons and Smiths." A solution beckons in the guise of a local priest. "It is a common sort of misconception. If there's no rabbi about, well, try a priest. One religious ratbag's as good as another." The solution, however, lies elsewhere. The situation amply portrays Horwitz' humanity, absolving him of any stigma of the detached, unfeeling journalist. His roots are a significant element in his life, one that gently, but insistently, haunts him. This book can haunt you, as it does me.