Oceania Books

Nick Vaux's memoir of his experiences as a Commando (battalion level) commander during the Falklands Island War should be mandatory reading for anyone aspiring to tactical command. His book, well written and entertaining, provides valuable insight into the stresses and strains that affect the commander. Battle focused training, hasty planning, and the effects of the environment on combatants are also topics that he addresses.

Nick Vaux commanded the 42 Commando during the Falklands campaign and has written about it in this non-fiction work. This engaging, fast read follows his command from England to the Falkland Islands where the unit suffers appalling conditions and undergoes horrendous demands but has a spectacular fight in the final liberation of the island. This is highly recommended for members of the profession of arms and provides other readers a sense of the desperate conditions of modern war.

This is the first book I've bought in the Traveler's Companion series, and was a good find. I used it on a road trip along Australia's east coast, Sydney to Cairns, and the book convinced us to continue to Port Douglas and beyond - the highlight of the trip. It's particularly good on restaurant reviews, and includes a lot of smaller hotels that the other books we had ignored. A lot of great pix too, and good info on activiteis like diving and whitewater rafting. It was the most useful of the four guides we had by a long shot, but also the heaviest - could have been printed on lighter paper!

I was planning a month-long trip to Australia and I didn't want to go the strictly backpacker's route, but nor did I want to miss out entirely on the sense of adventure that comes from roughing it, at least somewhat. I wanted to experience both the comfort that comes with an organized well-planned holiday and the spontaneous adventure that comes from rushing headlong into things. This wonderful book provides all the information a visitor to Australia could possibly want in order to experience both comfort and adventure. Yes, when I'm in Sydney I want to know about the exciting nightlife and great restaurants available, but when I'm in the outback and I want to learn how to throw a boomerang (and catch it too!),or visit remote tribes in the Northern Territories, I want to be able to switch gears without having to refer to a different guidebook. But I found "Traveler's Australia Companion" useful even before I left the states. It has Web-related information covering everything from hotels to Aborigine guided bush-treks (a must-do), to both boat and car rentals. Once you are actually on the ground, its collection of maps of cities and states are big and detailed (vital in a sparsely populated country) and absolutely essential. Well-written pieces on Australian history, both Aborigine and European, combined with wonderful pictures, bring this fascinating country to life. If you're a first time visitor to Australia, or returning as I plan to, take this beautifully illustrated and practical book with you.

Finally, a book in a modern voice that takes you inside the Polynesian culture! I've read plenty of antiquities and stories gathered by missionaries, anthropologists, academics, travel writers and the like. Their work always seemed flat and dry, like examining flowers and insects behind glass cases. Then along came Tom Davis, former Prime Minister of the Cook Islands and a thoroughly modern Ariki. Suddenly I found myself immersed in the world of his ancestors. There was nothing understated or humble about this journey. The voyaging canoes themselves were immense (over 50 meters long), fast (routinely hitting 18 knots), and longer lived than any other vehicle I know of. Vaka, the canoe for which the book is named, links the ambitions, intrigues, violent passions and lusty romances of twelve generations of indelible characters over thousands of km of ocean and 300 years of history.

Ancient Polynesia was the world's most advanced maritime civilization for thousands of years, despite its lack of writing and metal. I've always wanted to understand it from the inside, and Vaka is the only book I've read that actually delivered.

A ripping read from beginning to end and I believe after contacting the author that the book is in the process of reprint.

This book is a good survey, but if you are going to want to find the birds and are serious about it you will need a better guide than this. This however is a good reference to get you started.

As usual with the series, this book does a very good job at introducing the "essential" birdwatching sites of a huge region.
Much of it is, for better or worse, devoted to describing the two biggest and most visited countries, Australia and New Zealand. Coverage of these is good, but since there are also single country guides to them you could also use those.
Where this book really becomes invaluable is its coverage of the often little-known archipelagos of Oceania: Melanesia, Polynesia and Micronesia. Few of these countries are often visited by birders, yet even the remotest ones, like Pitcairn, are described. Since other guides to nature reserves of these island nations are basically non-existant, descriptions and maps of remote islands and forested regions are of interest to anyone with an interest in the fauna of the Pacific.
But of course, twitchers are well served too - with lists of endemics, key sites to see each one, suggested itineraries and the like.
A worthy investment for your trip!

My father served in the Southwest Pacific also. He very rarely spoke about what he experienced there. All I knew was he was in New Guinea and the Philippines. After going through his separation papers and old photos after he died, I learned he was in the 41st Division in the same places and at the same time as the author of this book. It was well written and described what the men of my father's and the author's generation had to go through. A true soldier's story from the "Greatest Generation".

This book is a brief, but solid memoir of a soldier who fought in New Guinea and the Phillipines written nearly fifty years after the end of the war. The battle descriptions are first rate and his prose is very readable. The author is honest in admitting when his memory of events is imperfect but the years have not dimmed much. The author comes across as a likeable guy who is rightfully proud of his contribution to the "Good War".

one gem of a book. Compulsory reading for anyone interested in visiting Australia or living there! Don't look like a stunned mullet, read the Guide!

As an Aussie, I can vouch that this book is spot on. It is well written, a humerous but accurate description of Australians. You won't want to put it down. It is so good that it was used as a study text for immigrants learning English in Australia!
The only down side is that it isn't longer.

Ms. Alexander's work is carefully researched and beautifully written. She also has clear biases on events and people but I'd prefer to have had her own opinions more boldly written. Nevertheless, this is a "must" history for Bounty fans.

Bligh--a man of tremendous strengths--had at least one glaring weakness. He was a man with a red hot temper. Granted--like many people given to "blowing their tops"--he got over it quickly but, unfortunately for him, some people targeted by his flare-ups had difficulty forgetting his insults. Perhaps amazingly, his crew--largely composed of very young, no doubt immature men--went through great trials before they finally broke. Even then, the majority of men remained faithful to their fallen leader, to the point of sailing with him into almost certain death.

Somewhere here we are missing some of the most important psychological aspects of the story. I try to place myself in the role of "loyal" crewman and wonder what I would have chosen on the day of the mutiny. Would I have elected almost certain death in a leaky skiff over probable survival in the Bounty? I don't really know but it would have been one Hell of a decision. Still, the majority of crewmen remained loyal and tried to pile into a rowboat with 7 inches of freeboard!

At the same time, despite Bligh's navigational skills and despite his courage, his must be regarded as a failure in leadership. I'm not sure where this failure occurred but it probably happened on Otaheite. He should have--in retrospect--been less lenient with his "men". Most of these were very young people, many only teenagers, some of whom were permitted to live amongst the Polynesians. It must have been a heady brew. They received respect that they'd never experienced in England. They obtained women, even wives, and were tatooed in displays of tribal honor. It was simply too attractive to many of these boys. Twenty-three year old Fletcher Christian should have known better but--suffering from alcohol and the pressure of obligations he no doubt felt to his Polynesian brethren--he cracked like a spoiled egg. Nowadays, psychologists would probably diagnose clinical depression and I have little doubt that Christian had "been in Hell for weeks", just as he described.

I'm not sympathetic with the mutineers. Captains--men of flesh and blood--weren't perfect and the Admiralty recognized this fact. The crew were supposed to be loyal and beyond provocation. Period. The mutinous members of the crew paid for the sins one way or another--just as they deserved. It is unfortunate that some loyal crewmen paid their price, too.

Ron Braithwaite, author of novels--"Skull Rack" and "Hummingbird God"--on the Spanish Conquest of Mexico

The author is a great writer. She's done a masterfull job of telling the true story. Apparantly much 'bounty' myths were often newspaper gosip & misinformation to appease powerful forces.

Very well researched audiobook with excellent narrative. Many historical points rarely mentioned by other historians of the event with a very good all round history of the events themselves. Narrative also never ceases to bore, a very important aspect of any audiobook.

Alexander gives a gripping, colorfully written true story of the mutiny on the ship Bounty in the late 18th century. Bligh's journals, along with the mutineers, combine to help tell the tale. It is a part of history I have been drawn to since I can remember. Hollywood brought it into our optic nerves. But the movie tended to romanticize how it portrayed the mutineers; almost apologetic.

The bibliography and source reference is massive. There are times where the author does not help us in understanding dialect and the meaning behind actions.

Alexander decides to begin with a summary, and the hunt for the fugitive mutineers (by the ship Pandora). We are then introduced to the Bounty (long delays leaving England's harbor) and the journey to bring back breadfruit (initiated by botanist Sir Joseph Banks). She gives us a brief background and early life of Bligh, the shipmates and the ship itself. Bligh proved to be intelligent and a good leader. Fletcher Christian (the lead mutineer) also had a promising career ahead.

There are perhaps dozens of reasons for the mutiny; the accounts vary. But the officers decline in leadership and the corruption at Tahiti are strong ones.

The final mutineers defense and sentence at the court martial draws the reader in, especially the writings of seventeen year old mutineer Peter Heywood. We find ourselves sympathizing with him. I find that even these young men had a superior intellect compared to today, and were considered "responsible" at a much earlier age. The escaped mutineers adopted an island, later to be discovered by a U.S. ship:

What they find on the island is more a garden of Eden. The descendants are Christian in faith, they are hard working, prosperous, and loving. Over time, the myths and falsities of the lives of the men of the Bounty are slowly being worked out.

"What caused the mutiny on the Bounty? The seduction at Tahiti, Bligh's harsh tongue----perhaps. But more compellingly a night of drinking and a proud man's pride, a low moment on one gray dawn, a momentary and fatal slip in a gentleman's code of discipline----and then the rush of consequences to be lived out for a lifetime."

Wish you well
Scott

Popular histories sometimes (not always, but often enough to notice) suffer from one of two things: a deliberate paring away of detail--be it description or incident--to make for easier reading or a slimmer volume, or a concerted refusal to acknowledge or explore information that does not gird the author's thesis. Caroline Alexander's The Bounty has neither condition: it is as exhaustive an examination of a single moment of history as anything I've ever read.

Which is not to say that the reading is not compelling. Alexander goes to some pains to strip away the romantic veneer covering over the facts of the mutiny and those culpable in its execution. Nor does she provide complete exoneration to Captain Bligh, who is revealed as an able, conscientious and decent man, whose few failings were amplified by a flawed crew and lack of support (mainly in the absence of marines on board The Bounty) from the Admiralty. Oddly, but appropriately for such a scholarly work, Alexander pieces together much of what is known about lead mutineer Fletcher Christian from the extant evidence, which in most cases is second hand.

The exhaustive nature of the book does tend to drag in places. The build up to court martial introduces the tiresome (no more here though than she was doubtlessly so in life) Fanny Hayward, along with detailed explanation of the members of the court martial. Interesting and ultimately useful in sorting out the fractured loyalties that defined these men and their subsequent actions, it does get to be slow reading.

But more than a story of one mutiny in the Pacific, it is a tale of a changing world, where the virgin paradise of Tahiti is imbued with the failings of the British Empire, where Nelson's final words, "thank God I have done my duty," are not the anthem of a subsequent age but an epitaph for a waning one. An epic worth reading.

This is the kind of writing/reflecting many people do while travelling and is not a "how to" type of travel guide. I've recommended this book to several thoughtful people, given it to many thoughtful teens as they begin to self-discover, and re-read the book twice. VERY nice writing, good thoughts, great ideas about humans.

The first sentence sounded promising:"In Alice Springs - a grid of scorching streets where men in long white socks were forever getting in and out of Land Cruisers - I met a Russian who was mapping the sacred sites of the Aboriginals." And indeed what follows in the next thirty or so chapters is a very readable and insightful travelogue of a British (author? archaelogist? historian?) "going bush" with Arkady Volchok, trying to learn about the mythical Aboriginal songlines. Not understandably, then, the author throws in bits and pieces of the protagonist's notebooks, which all more or less anthropological citations and thoughts from very different sources. The concept reminded me a bit of the motif in "The English Patient", where Almasy carries a copy of Herodotus' The Histories with him, adding his own notes and observations. Fortunately, in Ondaatje's novel, this remains a motif which does not disrupt the plot itself. With "The Songlines", however, I found myself flicking impatiently through the interjection-pages in order to get back to the story.

The Songlines really captured my attention. Human ecology, cultural anthropology, human evolution, cultural imperialism, Songlines, Native Australians ("aborigines"), travels... this is a book with information about a people and a place. I enjoyed the flow and pace of the story, and I hope I learned the reality of Native Australian culture.

However, Bruce Chatwin chose to use this book to publish assorted observations, quotes, and reflections from other travels. For me (me), they affected the flow of his storytelling, my ability to focus on the theme - Australia, not nomads - and the ending. Perhaps this is a style thing, and I don't know if Chatwin applies this style in his other books.

Didn't work for me. I wanted a conclusion to his original story.

In Alice Springs the narrator called Bruce meets Arkady Volchok, an Australian citizen who is mapping the sacred sites of the Aboriginals. Arkady is fascinated by them, by their grit and tenacity and their ways of dealing with white people. Arkady speaks a couple of their languages and he is often astounded by their intellectual vigour, their memory and their capacity to survive.
It was during his time as a schoolteacher in Walbiri that Arkadi learned of the labyrinth of invisible pathways which meander all over Australia and are known to Europeans as Songlines - a way for Aboriginals to sing out the name of everything that crosses their path during their wanderings: birds, animals, plants, rocks, waterholes and so sing the world in existence.
When a route is suggested for a new Alice to Darwin railway line, Arkady's job is to identify the traditional landowners, to drive them over their old hunting grounds and to get them to reveal which rock or soak or ghost-gum is the work of a Dreamtime hero. Bruce is happy to join Arkady and to spend some time "out bush".
The reader of this novel learns a lot about Australia and the Aboriginals. The plot and the characters however are a bit thin. One finds it hard to sympathise with the Aboriginal figures appearing in the story. What they have to say and the way they express themselves amounts to practically nothing. It seems as though they need the white people to tell their stories and traditions.

As i never wanted to go to Australia, i have to say that after reading this book i have not changed my mind, but it is not a point. It is not a book about traveling in Australia. It is more a book about walking, for example. As i like walking, i have found in this book so many great examples of what the walking is about, it is not just moving from one point on the Earth to another, it is also philosophy. And so on...this book is highly recommended for those who knows what the word "travel" means. In present time many people travel, but just a few ones deserve to be called "traveller". Bruce Chatwin is among them.

Just before World War II, the United States developed the atom bomb. It was the most powerful and dangerous weapon ever to be created, and when it was created no one was sure of its exact capabilities. No one could predict how powerful it would be, or how destructive it would be to the land or water on which it was dropped. The United States needed a testing site.

Sorry is a teenager living on the Bikini Islands in the western Pacific. He is a member of a tiny village of peaceful people who still live off of the land, without any modern conveniences such as electricity or telephones. They fish and gather coconuts to eat and are happy with their lives. But the United States has decided that the Bikini Islands, with their lagoon full of fish, would be a perfect place to test the atom bomb. All of a sudden, Sorry and his entire village are expected to move to another place to live.

This is a true story, giving a point of view I'd never considered. It's a difficult issue to justify, moving a large group of people in order to test a weapon. I liked how each chapter started with a bit of history about the creation of the atom bomb. I thought this book went a bit overboard in describing how perfect the lives of the islanders were; I don't believe any society is completely without conflict.

Bikini is a quaint little atoll in the Northern Marshall Islands. Its people lived peacefully... at least until World War II. Theodore Taylor's book, The Bomb tells the story of a people's struggle during the Second World War. This book excellently portrays the atom bomb's destructive nature, both physically and emotionally, and the problems it caused.

Sorry Rinamu is living on Bikini with his sister, Lokileni, his mother, Ruta, his grandparents, Yolo and Jonjen, and the rest of the small community on this little island. Suddenly, their world turned upside-down.

During the war, the Japanese had taken over Bikini and used it for the location of a weather station while they wreaked havoc. Soon, the Americans captured it from the Japanese, but this proved to be even worse.

This book is amazingly gripping and descriptive. It wonderfully describes the Bikinians' plight with the atom bomb. This adventure novel is one of the best historical fiction books I've ever read.

Theodore Taylor has written many novels, and this one is a great addition to his collection. Believe it or not, he has actually been to, or done many of the things mentioned in his books.

The Bomb is a must-read book for anyone who likes suspense-filled historical fiction. You'll love it!

In the Book The Bomb by Thedore Taylor. He uses a lot of real events from World War II. The whole idea about the Atom Bomb and them using it on an inhabited island is a type of thought I would have never thought of. It is aboult a boy who has to take charge against the Americans from dropping the bomb on there island for a test.
I felt that I could relate to the main character Sorry. Because I once had to take charge agianst my friends. I wanted to stand out and show them that I wasn't afraid to do what needed to be done. In the book it was the same situation.
That makes me feel that a lot of people get in this type of situation and it ends up in all the same situation.
Taylor uses a lot of facts in this book and to me that's what makes this book so great. Everyone should buy a copy and read it.

On July 1, 1995 the US dropped an atom bomb onto Bikini Atoll for atomic testing after the Second World War. The islanders are forced to leave the island until the land is safe again. This historic fiction, The Bomb by Theodore Taylor, is very powerful and sad and something you should definitely read.
The islanders had always lived peacefully on Bikini Atoll. They spent their time fishing, making copra, and picking coconuts among other things. Until, the war when the Japanese took them captive and used the island for weather stations. The Americans freed the islanders from the Japanese but soon told them they would use the island for atomic tests and the islanders would have to leave for two years. Sorry Rinamu and his Uncle Abram don't believe the American's promise.
Sorry's father had died when he was young so when Sorry was 14 he became the man of the family. He lived with his mother, his sister, his grandparents, and his uncle. Sorry believes the island will be poisoned and they would never return. I really liked him because he was very brave and he would do whatever it takes to save his island even if he was risking his own life.
Uncle Abram was another one of my favorite characters because he traveled around the world in an American merchant ship and escaped to return to Bikini. He was one of the only islanders to go far from the Atolls and the only one who spoke English. Abram is very angry at the US and is Sorry's inspiration to stand up to them.
The author really made you care about his characters and what they believed in. His writing style was very simple and was straight to the point but he really made you feel like you were on the ship leaving your home.
Theodore Taylor got his inspiration for this book when he worked on the US ship as a deck officer in Bikini Lagoon. He found a doll on the on the shore and felt very guilty about the removal of the islanders. It is scary to think that our own country did these things to these people and to think if it ever happened to us.
The Bomb can be scary and sad but I think it is something everyone should read and know about. So if you're looking for a good book to read, The Bomb would be a great choice.

A joyless tale that teaches children that the U.S. military routinely lies, that primitive islanders are our moral superiors, and that there is no difference between the United States and its enemies. Ever wonder why Harry Potter is so popular? It's because schools keep dishing out politicaly correct mush like "The Bomb."

C.S. Lewis wrote, "We make men without chests and expect of them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honour and are shocked to find traitors in our midst." This book is another step in that effort.

I'm off to NZ in a few weeks and was excited by the other reviews of this book. It sounded like a magical tour through a magical land. And while the stories were somewhat compelling, I found myself constantly waiting for something deeper, more profound, more passionate. The descriptions and especially the emotions in the writing were very superficial. Eventually I got tired of reading about all the wine and food and put the book down. Each day is it's own 2-4 page chapter which leaves the book with an unsettled feeling. Yes, I appreciated getting to know a little about a lot of things. But all in all, I thought the book was flat.

I wish my armchair grew wings and flew me to New Zealand, with the book's author as an engaging, enchanting guide! I followed his journey across that country and was transported into landscapes and homes he so vividly described.

This is a wonderful travel narrative: entertaining, informative, fun. As I eagerly turned pages, I felt I was taking a "virtual trip" to NZ (both North and South islands), and one that provided me a sense of familiarity when I made an actual trip there in March 2008. Dr. Elder shares his quirky observations about the people, "straying from the flock" alternative lodgings like homestays and farmstays, the country's history, the local food and wine, and some key destinations on both islands. His highlights of places to see -- like Auckland, Queenstown, Rotorua -- and activities unique to each guided me in planning my own itinerary. The only aspect of the book that proved somewhat "dated" was the reported cost of everything. Clearly, when Dr. Elder made his trip, the exchange rate was much more favorable to the US$ than it is has become in the last year or so. (For example, when he paid NZ$100 for something, it cost him less than US$50. That would translate into about US$80 in today's market.)
In summary, for anyone contemplating a trip to NZ, or just curious about this faraway land, I recommend this book as an essential part of your research and planning.

I bought this book because it was the first novel I have ever seen about New Zealand. Basically every other book has been a travel guide, some of which are useful, but none of which are a narrative of a person's experience in New Zealand. Alexander Elder is a frequent traveler to New Zealand and he relates his story of traveling from the south tip to the northernmost tip of the country over the course of eight weeks (with a few days in Fiji and Australia). He meets new people and visits old friends along the way.
I really enjoyed this book, my only issues were that I couldn't completely relate to his way of traveling. He travels in a style where laying down several hundred dollars to get a guided trip a few times in a week is no issue. I tend to be on a much more restricted budget. He also has a bit of a different attitude than myself, more strict about superb service and attention than I probably would be, but it's his story not my own :)
He does give a good impression of the hospitality that is present in most New Zealanders as well as the beauty of the land itself. I often felt like I was right along side of him during his trip.
This is a good read for anyone interested in New Zealand, especially being a tourist there. He also provides a link to his website where he posted the photos (non-professional) that he took during the course of this trip, a nice little addition to enhance the story.

Dr. Elder has written a fine travel memoir that made New Zealand come alive for me prior to my trip there. The title is a great metaphor for the book. New Zealand is far away, physically and psychically, from his home in New York. Dr. Elder enriches his adventure with historical background on the places that he visited such as the biographical sketch of Captain James Cook which is part of the chapter (titled "Meeting Captain Cook) about the Marlboro Sounds.
Some reviewers have called this book a "guide book," and it has a great deal of useful information, but I consider it fine travel writing. I suggest that those interested in New Zealand read this book first and then get a copy of the Lonely Planet guide when they're ready to go.