Oceania Books

The blurb for this book suggests a scholarly analysis of the effect of law on an emerging culture. It is anything but. It is better described as a muddled attempt to justify the modern political movement that elevates the descendants of 18th century Hawaiians to sacred victimhood enjoyed by Indians and Eskimos. The title should be a warning that this author cannot tell the difference between a colonist and an immigrant. She displays a less than adequate understanding of Hawaiian history and misses the significance of early leaders, both native and immigrant. Queen Kaahumanu, probably the most important force in creating the Hawaiian monarchy, is barely mentioned, and then denigrated as a sort of tool of the Christian missionaries. Sanford Dole, chief justice of the monarchy, head of the provisional government, president of the republic, and governor of the territory, is ignored. The biggest problem with this book is that too many readers will take it seriously.

The last decades of the twentieth century have witnessed a florescence of literature on the postcolonial, seen simultaneously as an era and a condition of social life. Inspired in large part by the work of Frantz Fanon, Michel Foucault, and Edward Said, this work had examined how the relations of power and culture forged during the colonial era have shaped the present. One legacy is Orientalism, another our contemporary conceptions of race, gender and sexuality (Merry 11).

Introduction
In what Pierre Bourdieu would arguably identify as the "Legal Field ,"moves were undertaken by "experts" in Hawaii not just to discipline Hawaiians but inadvertently to make them allies of their own demise. Edward Said's notion of Orientalism is important but not in the way, I will argue here, Merry mobilizes Orientalism. Foucault's notions of discourse and power apply but Merry does not use Orientalism to counter Foucault's and Barthes's "death of the author" - the writers of law give the "authority" through their being "experts." Authority, that is to alter the daily regimen of work and sex, in an effort to produce both legally and morally productive and civilized bodies. That these discourses played themselves out, Merry is extensive with her examination of the archive. Echoing Foucault's discourse examination, the Hilo archive is thick with power moves meant to direct people to behave in a "civilized" manner. Finally, Merry will argue that this legal space or field is nuanced - that this is a site of contention and resistance - with, at the risk of adding another 50 cent word to the mix - that I will not deal with any further - white hegemony.

Summary
Short description of the book... the main question being asked by Merry is how does law transform or control notions of normality, productivity, and sexuality. In this extensively detailed examination of the Hilo archive, Merry examines the archives and thus discourses that went into effect to dislodge indigenous Hawaiian law. The result of this transition was a new set of laws that transformed Hawaiian sexual, marriage, and working patterns taking private matters into a public sphere (McClintock 10-12).

Edward Said and Orientalism
Merry begins Colonizing Hawaii by introducing what she sees as "transitions" (63-114). Transitioning Merry identifies as a "religious" to a "secular" law. The local Hawaiians, in an effort to be considered civilized and as a result seen as equal and sovereign, actually had no expertise in this realm and eventually handed control over to those who wrote the laws. Players such as William Little Lee (Merry 86), John Ricord (Merry 90), and Lorin Andrews (Merry 91) would provide the authorial function to enshrine into law through their extensive expertise in the area. I find myself at a loss as to how Merry mobilizes Edward Said's notion of Orientalism.

I have found it useful to employ Michel Foucault's notion of discourse, as described by him in The Archeology of Knowledge and in Discipline and Punish, to identify Orientalism. My contention is that without examining Orientalism as a discourse one cannot possibly understand the enormously systematic discipline by which European culture was able to manage - and even produce - the Orient politically, sociologically, militarily, ideologically, scientifically, and imaginatively during the post-Enlightenment period. Moreover, so authoritatively a position did Orientalism have that I believe no one writing, thinking, or acting on the Orient could do so without taking account of the limitations on thought and action imposed by Orientalism (Said, Orientalism 3).

Over and above the notion of authorial function Orientalism is the study of discourses that authorized Imperialism on the premise that colonizers had "prior knowledge" or "invented information" through culture. To digress slightly, Said speaks of Silvestre de Sacy, Ernest Renan and Gustave Flaubert occupy a "transdiscursive" position while Burton, Chateaubriand, and Lane writing about Egypt and Napoleon reading this tract and informing his takeover - when he got there he was not "surprised" - he had arrived. In Culture and Imperialism Said speaks to Conrad's Heart of Darkness to demonstrate this point that culture preceded conquest/imperialism. In Merry, prior knowledge mattered less - what was crucial was invented or created knowledge. Hiram Bingham, Merry fails to argue did not "know" about the Islanders but was more interested in bringing them civilization - in short placing knowledge (that only he, his ilk and the legal community identified above, possessed) new knowledge. Knowledge that only the productive, compliant, and imposing on this malleable culture/people "... prohibitions [that] were designed to engender a new kind of person managed by self -restraint and internal control" (Merry 189).

Michel Foucault: Discipline and Punish and Archeology of Knowledge
Notions of coercion/control is where her use of Foucault is arguably its strongest, in an effort to alter or "discipline" the behavior both in the field and in the bedroom, what the law could not alter, society did (see Bingham in Merry 79).

This superimposition of different models makes it possible to indicate, it its specific features, the function of `training.' The chiefs and their deputies at Mettray had to be not exactly judges, or teachers, or foremen, or non-commissioned officers, or `parents,' but something of all these things in a quite specific mode of intervention. They were in a sense technicians of behavior: engineers of conduct, orthopaedists of individuality. Their task was to produce bodies that were both docile and capable (Foucault 294).

The labour by which the convict contributes to his own needs turns the thief into a docile body... The wages of penal labour do not reward production; they function as a motive and measure of individual transformation: it is a legal fiction, since it does not represent the 'free' granting of labour power, but an artifice that is presumed to be effective in the technique of correction (Foucault 243).

In one of the more nuanced moves in the whole book: the transition from one legal framework to the next; the Hawaiian elite, wished to comply in an effort to be seen as civilized (Merry 112 and McClintock 13) , were all too willing to comply. Coercion would be done from the top down from that moment onward. In the end, as Merry points out "In the 19th century as in the present, law provides a vital terrain for struggles over nationhood and identity, including the place of women in the order of the family and the state and the civilizing of the body through the body of law" (Merry 266). I find this passage a real problem because she almost seems to say: "The colonizer has taken over using and now you - the colonized - can use that very same as a tool of resistance. Foucault would argue that if repression has been the glue that binds power, knowledge, and sexuality since the classical age, with so much invested in its development - I find it ironic that Merry would suggest it is the mode of effective resistance. The cynic in me is doubtful.

Sally Engle Merry: Spaces of Contention and Resistance
Despite the top down coercion through the institution of law that only foreign lawmakers possessed (Merry 88-89), Merry suggest that there existed a limited but all too real set of avenues for resistance.

Clearly, the law is neither purely a tool for imposing the rule of dominant groups nor a weapon for weapon for resistance, but a site of power, defined by its texts, its practices, its practitioners, available to those who are able to turn it to their purposes (Merry 265).

The most problematic of scenarios relating to space of resistance was that particular litigants did not have the knowledge within which to act - they had neither the resources nor the knowledge/literacy within which to seek redress (Merry 264) in this new and really in-organic new set of laws. This may have all but insured job security for lawyers for years to come but it is clearly indicative that these new spheres of illegality where just as unstable as the people writing them and the people being written about. Clearly, the laws where written for a societal framework where its target audience where neither ready for nor had the history of European modernity to draw from. Altering normative measures through the re-codification of laws is a stroke of genius that I would argue was an enjoyed unintended consequence.

Works Cited
Bourdieu, Pierre. Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste. Trans. Richard Nice. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2007.
Foucault, Michel. Discipline and Punish: The birth of the Prison. Tran. Alan Sheridan New York: Pantheon Books, 1975.
McClintock, Anne. Imperial Leather: Race, Gender, and Sexuality in the Colonial Contest. New York: Routledge, 1995.
Merry, Sally Engle. Colonizing Hawaii - The Cultural Power of Law. New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2000.
Said, Edward W. Culture and Imperialism New York: Vintage Books, 1994.
---. Orientalism. New York: Vintage Books, 1979.

Miguel Llora

This book is a valuable study of the colonization of Hawai`i and the role of "law" in the islands' cultural transformation. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in a critical understanding of Hawai`i's social, economic and politial dynamics. I particularly benefited from the insights on religion, sexuality and women. Sally Engle Merry provides a good articulation of the inevitable paradoxes facing the Hawaiian Nation in the 19th century vis-a-vis encroaching American imperialism and colonization. "Colonizing Hawai`i" is also a good read in the context of critical legal studies.

An excellent guide with supurb photos, invaluable to anyone planning to dive these islands. The layout is intelligent and very easy to follow, and the practical advice is well up to the standards I expect of LP.

Buy it well before you go to plan out that dream vacation

This book is ok for snorkeling advice. Mostly geared to diving. A lot of the descriptions of the locations for snorkeling where not accurate. I would recommend since you really do not have a choice.

This met my expectations quite well. A good overview of the area, followed by a review of the key dive spots in French Polynesia. Excellent phtography, including a good critter guide at the end.

The only downside I can find is that there's no real overview of good snorkeling sites . . . they're lumped in with diving sites.

Overall, I'd recommend . . . I know it will be useful for my trip!

This has been an excellent source of information for my friends and me. We are going to New Zealand next year and know nothing of the country. Since we are planning on visiting wineries, we were happy to find enough on the subject to start planning which ones are "musts" to see.

I have just got back from New Zealand, and got the 2006 guide with me...

And I must say that the good thing about these books are the tips they give on each city, and yes, it also gives an idea of the itinerary you can chose by the ammount of days you will be going to...

Even though NZ is a place fully prepared to be receiving tourists and Visitors Information centers just about everywhere in the country (for Real !!) and with plenty of information (that sometimes can cause confusion), the book was something that me and my wife always liked to read and get some of the tips.

The only drawback is that it does not point out at a Budget or even shoestring travel.. It is more on the medium to high profile by some of the guidance the book gives to you (about 80% of the time), but is a real good thing to take along.

We definitely liked it, and I could say that a lot of the tips we actually (restaurants, places to go..) followed and we satisfied with it.

You will like and for the price, it's worth to take at the trip.

And you will just love New Zealand... I bet you will !
:-)

If you're looking for something that you can take along with you for reference, then this book is not it -- it's way too clunky. If you're COMPLETELY unfamiliar with the country, then this book is for you. If you're going to visit EVERY part of the country, then this book is for you. But if you're only going to do a city stay, or see one or part of one of the islands, then this book is NOT for you. If you already have your itenarary planned out, then this book is NOT for you. About the only thing that I liked about this book is that it gave me some ideas for side trips, and a map. Both of which I could have gotten when I arrived in New Zealand.

A retired old man was bored but poor, so he got into a smugggling avocation of sorts. His favorite booke he told an interested person was THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL about a renegade who saved prisoners from the guillotine during the French Revolution.

When he had lots of spare time, he'd go to the railway station to dream of the places he wished he could visit if he had the money. There, he saw starving pigeons doomed to a lingering death. So he started off small on his smuggling a few very ill pigeons in a cardboard box to release them in the country. "Plenty of people object to pigeons flying in their faces and skimming over their heads." People like Whitt think their excrement is poison to humans.

One day he almost missed the train and was helped on by a young woman who became his confidante. "First, you pick out your pigeon -- the most starved and persecuted." Handle it gently and pop it in the box. Get a few and start pretending you are the Pimpernel. "There's an advantage to being small," he explained, "who would take me for the Scarlet Pimpernel." Indeed, most people look the other way when they see an old poor person, man or woman.

He spent the spring months enjoying his adventures smuggling the birds on the rails to freedom in the beechwoods of the villages. "I sprinkle some grain and lift out my bird. I open my hands and up he soars into the clear air, a country bird instead of a city bird." The air is healthier and there is natural food for the birds.

A cheerful comradeship developed between the two unlike conspirators for the intrevening weeks; but, one day, he was no longer there. "Now, when I stroll around our village and a silvery-gray cloud of pigeons rises up feasting on beechnuts, I think: "The Scarlet Pimpernel of the Central rescued them. I was not likely to forget him." Reminds me of Robert Wrisley, wh'd do something similar and tell his big tales about imaginary travels around the world. Now, he is off to the big happy land in the sky where he can dream to his fullest extent and watch the pigeons flying around free and healthy, thanks to him.

The Gift of Birds is a large collection of true story excerpts from various authors. The stories are separated into different parts as described by previous reviewers. Many of the authors are 'professional' birders, scientists and ornithologists. They're not what you'd call common bird watchers. When I bought this book I was expecting short complete stories from backyard bird watchers.

Sorry to say, some of the stories I found tedious to finish. To be fair, I've never been an excerpt fan and this book is chalk full of story excerpts. Many of the stories I'm sure, lose much of their charm by not reading them in their complete state. Again- that's why I don't like excerpts.

One story in this book disturbed me a bit. 'The Scarlet Pimpernel' was a story where an older man captures unsuspecting city pigeons & relocates them in a country area. While, I'm sure the man intended the pigeons no harm, I couldn't held but wonder if he waited until after mating & clutch-rearing season to capture these birds. During this story I kept imagining an abandoned nest full of baby pigeons with no parents around to feed them! Not a pretty thought if you love birds.

On a brighter note, if you are a serious birder and you don't mind excerpts, you will probably enjoy this book. If you prefer common jargon from common folk who love birds- you might want to check this one out of the library instead of purchasing it.

I confess to being a bit ignorant when it comes to birds. It's not that I don't like them, you understand. It's just that I have never felt compelled to follow them into marshes, rainfrests or tidal plains, record their songs, carry bincoulars, notebooks and field guides to identify them or attend the meetings of our local birdwatchers' club. On the other hand, I am great friends with the cardinal couple that visits the tree outside my window each morning and the java sparrows that nest in the eaves of the house next door. I have also made the acquaintance of several parrots in the neighborhood, and we get along just fine. So when I was given this collection of true stories to read, I thought, what the heck. Why not?

Not only was I pleasantly surprised by the depth and range of the writing contained in this book, but I was touched by the effect birds have had on people's lives. The book is divided into 5 sections, each with its own unique set of stories. Some of my favorites include the following:

In Part I - Vivid Encounters, Diane Ackerman tells of how she broke her ribs climbing down vertical volcanic cliffs on a Japanese island to see the last of the short-tailed Albatrosses.

In Part II - Kindred Spirits, David Duncan confesses to having robbed a great horned owl's nest as a child.

In Part III - Odd Ducks, Marie Winn tells of a magical day spent gettting lost and discovering birds in Central Park.

In Part IV - Brushes with Divinity can be found the offerings of authors such as Peter Matthiessen's compelling description of his visit to the breeding grounds of the great cranes in Siberia.

Part V - Ascending Song consists of a single offering by Kenn Kauffman (author of Kingbird Highway) who tells of finding and listening to the song of a skylark out in the San Juan Islands.

There are many more of course, from writers as diverse as Alice Walker, Louise Erdrich and Bernd Heinrich. All in all this is a wonderful read that shouldn't be missed.

I have given this book the lowest possible rating for two main reasons; Firstly it lacks overall credibility and, secondly, the State laws of Queensland have been flouted.

Any book with a title that suggests it is a Diving Guide to the Great Barrier Reef is making a very big claim and I took delivery with great excitement. Sadly, I was very quickly disappointed. The Great Barrier Reef of Australia is over 1,200 miles long and this book covers just 27 dive sites with varying degrees of thoroughness. Starting with 7 sites off Cairns, the author then takes the reader on a quick dash to Heron Island - some 600 miles south, for another 3 sites before returning to those previously visited northern climes to resume and conclude. In short, the title of this book is misleading.

More importantly, however, I did find certain specific content most upsetting.

Pages 11 and 47 contain photographs showing Divers physically touching and manhandling, the Giant Grouper (Epinephelus tukula) commonly known as the Potato Cod. Strangely, the captions for these photographs are at odds with the content - in that they correctly inform the reader that human contact with these fish is detrimental and may leave them open to parasitic invasion by removing the creature's own protective mucus. Clearly a question of do as I say - but NOT as I do when "I" take photographs.

Similarly, page 140 describes how the "State Laws of Queensland" specifically prohibit divers from entering the shipwreck "Yongala." 137 people lost their lives when this vessel foundered in 1911 and, having made those "Laws" quite clear, the author then advises Divers to take a torch and on pages 140 and 141 promptly shows his own images from the ship's interior - a clear demonstration of how Australian laws have been blatantly flouted in the production of this book.

Altogether, quite disgraceful!

NM

This book is excellent at providing sample dives along the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Queensland, Australia. Included are reef structure, marine life likely to be encountered, and photography tips specific to the site.

At the back of the book are several pages of color drawings of the most prevelant fish for this area.

The book contains lots of photos and description of different dive sites around the great barrier reef. However I believe it would be impossible to expect to the book to include all dive sites. Net-net this is a book I enjoy reading it again and again.

This book did a pretty good job of covering restaurants and sights in depth, as opposed to the "Ultimate Kauai" guidebook. Unfortunately, it's out of date and not enough detailed in other areas. It was ok as a supplement to a better guidebook.

While this book isn't as flashy as others on the same topic, "Kauai Handbook" is packed with useful facts, thorough descriptions, and local insights. On several trips to Kauai, I've found this book to be useful over and over.

My family and I used this book on our trip to Kauai. The reviews were sometimes helpful but this island is changing so rapidly that a lot of the material is outdated. The maps are okay for general use, but don't use them to navigate. Pick up one of the free maps handed out to find your way, or you will get lost.

The most appealing thing about this book is the journey Mark made - I have always wondered what it would be like to circumnavigate Australia. I also felt I learned alot about Australia from his description of the different regions. The journey itself was fine but not a life or death adventure. It's a good story.

This is a nice book about a great journey around Australia. Mark and Sue set out in 1986 on a 16' catamaran which basically consisted of two double sea kayaks rigged together. One motivation of this trip was to visit the America's cup races in Perth in 1987. Taking this rather small craft around Australia within two years is a tremendous achievement, even though they hitched a couple of rides along the way when their schedule gets tight or their boat needs repair. The book is well written and has a couple of color pictures inside that make the adventure come to life. I wished Mark had spent more of the twelve or so years between the trip and the publication of this book with an editor, because there are lots of typos and some paragraphs are in here twice. What I found particularly odd, is that there is hardly any of Sue in this book - not a single picture of her, no romance, no fighting, no other point of view. This point is pretty much completely omitted by Mark, and that even though (or maybe because?) they married later on (and then divorced even later on). I found that weird, but I did not regret buying it, because it is very inspiring to read about what some people dare to do with very small boats...

Anyone who has ever sailed, or dreamt of a sailing adventure, has no choice but to read this book. Mark Darby has completed an awesome task, tantamount to a dare, by sailing a small boat through some large seas around a huge continent! His adventures have been well crafted with vivid word pictures and a descriptive action style which put me in the boat with him and Sue. I can still clearly see the beautiful Australian coastline, the memorable people they met and the first reading has left me with a sweet salt water taste in my mouth and wanting more.

This is, I believe, a unique sea saga which would encourage any would be adventurer, with personal challenges and emotions spilling out onto every page. Nine out of 10!

I purchased this book to use as we study the continents. (We are homeschooling). It gives tidbits of information about New Zealand, just enough for a surface glance at this country. Which is OK for our purposes, but would not be useful if you really wanted to study this country in depth. Also the pictures were drawn or sketched, and did not really give us a realistic look at this country. There are a couple of pages in the back that list all the basic facts about New Zealand, but these are presented in a boring fashion and not interesting to read. Therefore not useful to us, really. They almost seem like they are not part of the book, or maybe like someone's effort to redeem the informative value of the book. While this book will be somewhat helpful for us since we do not need to look at this country that deeply at this time, I would not be inclined to purchase any additional books in the ABC series.

Both the ABC New Zealand and the Maori book are excellent. The ABC New Zealand has colorful pictures and just enough information to hook and hold my third graders' interest. The Maori book is superb, with pictures and text that introduces children (with teacher input) to the Maori culture of New Zealand.
The seller,Topshelf Treasures, was a 5 in dealing with shipping issues that arose.

Schroeder and Wolf have put together a lovely introduction to New Zealand with this offering in the series "Country ABCs". The text begins with a greeting in both English and Maori. Throughout the book, a respectful tribute to the Maori origin of the country and the Maori culture is apparent. The native terms, when used for a particular letter, are also written in phonetic spellings that incorporate words even young readers may have mastered. The alphabet letters are clearly designated and attractively highlighted with a border of Maori design.

At the outset, drawings of the country and its placement in the hemisphere are clearly shown. The pictures correspond effectively to the word used for each letter. The landscapes and seascapes are particularly lovely.

The text is clearly written to cover the major aspects of the country: origin, geology, culture, economy and politics. The last of these recognizes that New Zealand was the first to grant women the right to vote. Also acknowledged is the country's long-standing anti-nuclear stance.

This reader, however, was surprised to see no mention of New Zealander, Sir Edmund Hillary, although the first woman to be elected prime minister in 1999, Helen Clark, was pictured. More of the Maori carvings and designs might have been included, but the overall effect of this book as it is, shows a fine cohesiveness in concept, text and illustrations. A brief "On the Web" section is included. A minimal glossary, index and a "To Learn More' bibliography makes this book a useful library skills teaching tool as well.

This book provides a number of different strategic perspectives on the Pacific War in World War II. It is made up of a number of articles written by leading thinkers in the field of military history. Most are professors at universities. As mentioned in one review, one article has inaccurately identified that the US used Avengers for torpedo bombers at Midway when they used Devastators. However, the rest of the articles are accurate in the basics, and some of the strategic perspectives are interesting. Here are a couple for you. (1) Although the US used a Europe first strategy, the most powerful naval units fought in the Pacific, and the number of army divisions provided to MacArthur were still significant (when the divisions in Europe were below necessary), and the most advanced bomber (B-29) was provided to the Pacific War in mid 1944 when the bomber offensive in Europe would have needed them. Obviously, all along, the US had decided to fight a major two front war, and expected to win in Europe with Russian and British help of course. (2) The Japanese expected the US to back off because they expected the US not to be willing to fight a war with significant casualties. Consequently, Japan was not prepared for a long war and essentially fought the war with the same resources at the beginning as at the end: the same fighter planes, the same carriers, the same infantry weapons, etc., while the US technology increased. So, by the end of the war, Japan was outclassed. These are just some of the interesting perspectives of the book. I especially liked the chapter on Central Pacific campaign and the debate that went on between Nimitz and MacArthur to conduct that. However, I didn't give the book 4 stars because some of the articles are weak including the one on Midway that wrongly highlights the use of the Avenger. In spite of this, I do recommend this book especially for anyone interested in WWII.

As one who doesn't read such book for the pictures, but for the ideas and analysis, I found this book outstanding. Each topical chapter was fascinating. While it isn't a narrative history of the war, it helps put the key elements in focus; a highly readable, academic quality dissection of the strategy and tactics.

I wrote Osprey Publishing and pointed out that in the chapter on Coral Sea and Midway; TBD Devastators were identified as TBF Avengers. The 35 Torpedo Bombers that were slaughtered at Midway were not all Avengers(Except for a small Midway detachment.)
There were NO TBF's at the Coral Sea. How does this get through the editing and printing stages?????
They said they would correct the error in future printings, I am stuck with a DUD copy. This is POOR publishimg at its best. I own thousands of dollars of Osprey books and I am mortified to say the least.

I love these maps, they never disappoint. The Sydney one covers all the parts of the city that most tourists are likely to visit, with sufficient detail to keep you from getting lost, even on the smallest streets.

There is no better map on the market today.

prompt delivery by amazon. Product quality extremely dependable. Very clear and significant details well highlighted.

Streetwise Sydney is essential to experiencing a city rich in history. It is laminated, so it's easy to fold, and it fits almost anywhere - a breast pocket perhaps. The map color codes different points of interest and of necessity- i.e. the Royal Botanic Gardens, Restaurants and Hotels. This map made a trip to a foreign city not so intimidating, and I wouldn't want to use any other kind when I plan my next adventure.

Don't waste your money. This map shows such a small part of Sydney it is worthless. Using this map is like riding through one of the prettiest cities in the world while looking through a pipe. I threw it away the first day in Australia!