Oceania Books

In 1980 I proofread a magazine excerpt of a Paul Theroux book. It began with his getting up early to catch a train from Boston to begin a journey to Patagonia. Who cares how early this bloody New Englander had to get up or what he had for breakfast? I'd thought Patagonia was a mythical country. I guarantee you it wasn't in my geography book. Turns out it's part of Argentina. Big deal.

But the guy is a real writer. In The Happy Isles, he recounts the tale of how he brought a folding boat, about the size of a big suitcase, to every Pacific island you've ever dreamed about and paddled around them all. Forget those islands -- Theroux says they are mostly full of lazy, suspicious people who stuff themselves with imported junk food. Some are Christian religious fanatics, some are vicious pagans, and some are both.

The first two chapters are on New Zealand, and I imagine those folks would shoot Theroux on sight if he had the temerity to return. He was not complimentary.

Theroux is not Mr. Sweetness and Light, but that's all the more enjoyable as he demolishes the images of tropical paradises, whether in Meganesia, Melanesia, Polynesia, or Hawaii. Stay home! Stay home, pour a Mai Tai, and enjoy this delightful putdown.

Grass skirts, pineapples, Hawaii 5-O, poi, surfing, volcanoes... these are the things most people might think of when they think of Hawaii. However, there is more to this gorgeous cluster of islands than that.

The "Portrait of America" series is a wonderful introduction for pre-teens to the 50 states and to the places and events that shaped the history of the United States. This "Hawaii" installment is particularly good. The book is broken down into sections like "History", "Culture", "Economy" etc., and each section is thoughtfully written and edited. My only reservation is that the History section should have focused more attention on the ancient civilizations that flourished on the islands over the centuries.

This book, as well as the entire "Portrait of America" series, will prove to be a valuable teaching tool to all primary school educators.

"Hawaii: Facts and Symbols," by Emily McAuliffe, is a good reference book for both younger and older readers. It is divided into short, easy-to-read sections and is illustrated throughout with many colorful photos. Also included is a map.

The book covers a number of topics: population, crops, the state seal, state motto, state bird, etc. Included is a short list of places to visit (such as the USS Arizona memorial) and other supplements. The one thing that's missing, and which I think should have been included, is a list of famous people from Hawaii. But overall, a concise and interesting book.

Adorable pictures with cute storylines. This book makes a really nice gift!

Ravi de Costa has developed a unique perspective on Aboriginal Australian political activism and this book is an impressively researched contribution to Aboriginal history. An international scholar, his roots with third world people who migrated to the west, he has lived and worked in Australia and now in the Faculty of Environmental Studies at York University, Toronto. His analysis of Aboriginal political activism is free of the bondage of settler colonial adherence to the notion of the egalitarian Australian polity that often compromises Australian scholarship on Indigenous issues. For this reason the book provides a refreshing view of Aboriginal activism and includes activists and the events that they have been involved in as legitimate and important to the ongoing development of Aboriginal rights and by inference, the Australian polity in general.
De Costa's book rightly places Aboriginal transnationalism within the global movement for rights of colonised peoples the world over and describes the key players, their alliances and networks developed over time. The overall impression is of intelligent Aboriginal players and activists, utilising the instruments of domestic and international activism to seek redress for their people caught in the hegemony of the settler colonial regime.
Global colonial capitalism has subjugated Indigenous peoples and ironically established the communication networks that have fostered interchange about the impacts of these regimes, whereby the seeds of discontent have developed into anti-colonial activism. While primarily concerned with the local and regional, Indigenous people have transcended their seemingly parochial concerns and the borders of the nation state, to develop international means of pursuing their claims for justice. The `higher authority' to which they have appealed, is identified by de Costa as `both ideological and institutional manifestations of universal moral order' (p. 4) he identifies as humanitarian, Christian, feminist, Communist and socialist philosophies, more recently expressed in terms of decolonisation.
While de Costa positions Aboriginal political action in relationship to western human rights movements, he reminds us that it is also from Indigenous knowledges and the activism of Indigenous people that the world has been constantly reminded of the need for justice. This is a highly thought provoking book.

I borrowed a copy of this via interlibrary loan while working on my own new book COOL MAPS OF INDONESIA (Nimble Books LLC 2007). The HISTORICAL ATLAS OF INDONESIA is a very useful scholarly compendium of hundreds if not thousands of maps developed using a very extensive GIS. Features I particularly liked were a list of islands over x size and a map that showed name changes next to islands. Most of the maps are based on modern era data. This would be an excellent reference for any library. Indeed, I might say it's a must purchase, given that Indonesia has the 4th largest population of any country in the world.

First of all, thank you to Scarecrow Press and its Asian historical dictionary series. These are superb resources. Yes, they are expensive, but for a student/scholar they are indispensable.

The main drawback of this historical dictionary is its 1993 publication. So much has happened in Malaysia and Southeast Asia since then: the "Asian Tiger" concept; the 1997 economic crisis; the Anwar crisis and subsequent Reformasi movement; the growth of Muslim fundamentalism and political Islam, and; Mahathir's and UMNO's flagging leadership. A new edition of this reference is imminent, and I trust it will address all of these issues.

There are a few disappointing aspects of this dictionary. First, the list of abbreviations/acronyms can be much more comprehensive. The chronology is a bit thin; there are many events in the post-colonial era, especially during the Emergency and the Indonesian Konfrontasi period that, alhtough somewhat minor, really would serve to flesh out the chronology. The maps are a big disappointment. No, this is not an historical atlas, but if the maps are to be included, they should be full-page (fold-out would be even better), full-color, better annotated, and much more detailed. Yes, such an improvement would raise the cost of the book somewhat, but if one is spending close to $50 on such a reference, a few more dollars would not be a budget-breaker.

The dictionary itself is fine, well cross-referenced. The bibliography is superior, an indispensable resource for further research. The bibliography is sub-divided into subject areas, which further aids in refining research. I am looking forward especially to the new edition's updated bibliography. The appendices and tables are also useful, albeit somewhat shallow and now dated.

This is a very well-written introduction to South Pacific history, with the additional bonus of the author rejecting the 'politically correct' bias of more recent works which tend to demonize Europeans and sanctify the 'natives'. A must-read for anyone interested in the Pacific beyond the beaches and resorts.

Nicolas Baudin and Matthew Flinders were commissioned by their respective governments to chart the unknown coastlines of Australia (then known as New Holland). Both did brilliantly well: Flinders making the first close circumnavigation of Terris Australis (or Australia, whose name he invented), and Baudin charting the the last unexplored slab of Western Australia, plus making numerous botanical and other scientific discoveries. Both captains, however, met with disaster: Baudin dying on his return (only to have his posthumous reputation sullied by a hostile biographer), and Flinders detained for five years by the notorious Governor Decaen, the Napoleonic commander at French Mauritius. This is the first book to chronicle their achievements along the same timeline, and naturally the narrative reaches a climax where they meet at South Australia's Encounter Bay.

Brodsky writes of her experiences as a girl in Sydney of the 1940s. Viewing it as an outsider. Compared to Europe, the city was unscathed by war damage. Her impressions are touching, and perhaps by not having grown up there, these are more revealing.

Those of you who have visited contemporary Sydney, or indeed Australia, will see a vast contrast. The Sydney of the 40s was a social monobloc, of overwhelmingly British and Irish ethnicity. With perhaps the odd Aborigine or Asian thrown in. The transplanting of British customs onto the region can sometimes seem so incongruous. Like the prevalence of the oh so British names of suburbs.

Brodsky's experiences were of a city just on the verge of massive postwar influxes. From eastern and southern Europe, and then eventually from east and south Asia.