Oceania Books

Romancing the Islands is a thoroughly delightful read. Kim Gravelle has a great deal of regard for the people and the islands of the South Pacific, and it shows in this book. For those who have travelled the Pacific, his stories of island encounters will bring back wonderful memories. His tales, of warm and hospitable people, beautiful but sometimes harsh, landscapes and incidences and lifestyles quite unlike any encountered at home, are told with humour and affection. It makes one want to head out right away to experience the adventure of a lifetime. I thoroughly recommend this book to traveler and armchair traveler alike.

This book was very handy when we went to Melbourne last month. We bought this and a city guide, and found this book to be much more our style. If all the Rough Guides are this handy, then it's a great series. I am certainly going to try one the next time I am going on a trip. (Usually I buy "for Dummies" books, but since we were strictly relegated to Melbourne on this past trip, I didn't want to buy an all-Australia-oriented book!)

Could have used a bit more data on the seedier aspects of the city (because all cities have their dark side, and it's nice to know the etiquette), but overall, it was very useful.

Went throught the whole book in one take. The photographs are so amazing, they instantly transport you to New Zealand and the words just reiterate the beauty of that luscious land. Great for anyone who is just merely curious or planning a trip to NZ. You feel the love the author has for his homeland - he is not only talented, he is gifted. His pictures are 'the stuff' dreams are made of. Great buy. PS: the pictures on his website will also take your breath away.

Very complete overview of Australia, which is not realy a country, but an entire continent, with various climates and landscapes. Phillip Mathews has done a great job describing the history, the people and nature of this country, and the accompanying photos are excellent. Some of the fold-out panoramas are nearly three feet wide, and vividly sharp. The book also includes a large number of areal shots, which give an unusual view of some of the remote areas, which are still impenetrable for the regular visitor.

Going through the book, you're realy tempted to jump on a plane to this great country down under...

This is an academic text, mostly, not one of those picture type books. Vamplex looks critically at the role of sport in Australia, and why Australians are so interested in it to start with. He deals with sex, race, class and the history from the start of various sporting contests of all types, from individual to team, and also those including animals. Very interesting.

Reading the Red/Green/Blue Mars series of fiction from Kim Stanley Robinson led me to Zubrin's excellent 'Case for Mars' on what is needed to start colonizing Mars. The set of papers in 'Strategies for Mars" is an excellent and readable view on the current research and the reality of getting to Mars. Well worth the price!

This book provides an excellent overview of critical issues prevalent in the Pacific Islands. An easy to read book that explores a variety of themes, all the time analysing the issue of sustainable development and its implications for the Pacific.

The book is a compilation of essays by a number of Australian and New Zealand Academics. The writing is a bit dry. However I believe it would be of use to students who are studying Asia-Pacific security issues and/or US Servicemen who are deploying to the region who wish to understand the Australian/New Zealand points of view regarding defence issues. (They are not the same!)

This book is a mix of great advice for rookies and regular adventurers. It gives you all the info. you need for roughing it in the Outback. Wilby is a well-known adventure and writer and knows her stuff. It is not a "tourist's guide" and is somewhat like that book about Extreme Survival tips where they tell you how to escape a submerged car or killer bees, but not as outlandish.

The first page is hilarious though.

I like Howarth's books and this is no exception. In this particular book, Howarth details the destruction of the true paradise of Tahiti. First the British and later the Spanish and French come and in essence destroy the island paradise of Tahiti. How did the Western powers do this? By imposing their morals and attititudes on the islanders who were already a generous and friendly people. First rough sailors invade the islands and give the islanders sexual diseases. The islanders were generous in both providing the sailors foods and any sexual favors they desired. Then missionaries came and tried to impose their morals on an already generous and good people. These morals also led to the destruction of the people. Introduction of materialism also hastened the end to these people.
The results of all this change was a drastic reduction in the islands population and a complete change in the people's attitudes. Later colonialism by the French and tourism destroyed whatever remained of this fabulous culture. One of the reasons few native cultures now exist in this world, is colonialism and tourism destroying the essential aspects of the natives. Tahiti changed because of the actions of the British and French.