Oceania Books

For anyone interested in the history of travel or of the early contacts between Europeans and indigenous peoples, this is a wonderfully stimulating book. Liebersohn brings together a deep knowledge of European intellectual history and a very perceptive reading of travel accounts written by some of the lesser-known early voyagers to Tahiti, Hawaii, and other Pacific islands. The real success of the book, in my view, is how he situates these accounts within networks of patrons, local island collaborators, and a reading audience.

He writes beautifully, in prose that is never cheapened with too easy judgments or clogged up with jargon. His book would be difficult to summarize, but suffice to say it will make you want to go back and read early travel literature.

Very highly recommended. I am going to track down Liebersohn's earlier book, "Aristocratic Encounters," in hopes that it will be as good as this one.

Treasured Islands: Crossing The South Seas with Robert Louis Stevenson by Lowell Holmes (Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Anthropology, Wichita State University) is a personal look at a beloved and renowned author of classics in terms of his high adventures on the South Pacific between 1888 and 1890. Life on the islands, European religious influence, and the saga of indigenous populations are all covered in this dramatic, exciting, and well-researched account. Biographer Lowell Holmes draws upon his impressive expertise regarding the life and work of Robert Louis Stevenson (he produced a documentary film on Stevenson in the Pacific) to deftly craft a work of historical accuracy and insight. Treasured Islands is a very highly recommended for personal, academic, and community library collections, and a "must" for admirers of Robert Louis Stevenson's literary works.

This was well writen book as well as very interesting.I would recommend this story to any one over 50 and under.

Almost any other book on Australia's Aborigines that you can find will be an anthropological description of Aboriginal life as seen in its declining years or modern Aboriginal problems in the 20th century. Some may record the awful history of injustice, the fatal impact of alcohol and white police---maybe even the deliberate policy of breaking up cultures and families that existed until recent times. There are a lot of books out there and I certainly am not familiar with all of them. Geoffrey Blainey wrote this highly original book back in 1975. I first read it a couple of years later and have kept it in mind all these years as a book that looked at the whole picture of Aborigines and their life in Australia in an entirely different way. I am basing this review on the original edition. He begins by pointing out that Australia was the only continent to be discovered by sea---and not by Europeans, but by pre-neolithic, island-hopping peoples of the distant past. When in later ages, much of the low-lying area north of present-day Australia was flooded by rising seas, the continent was isolated for millennia. Blainey tells how the Aborigines "terraformed" Australia by fire, how they learned to exploit every plant, insect, animal, and water source, how they coped with the volcanic eruptions of five to eight thousand years ago, how they developed the technology they needed, using all the materials available. Without any domesticable animals except dogs, which had come with them, and without any metals, they managed to maintain a stable lifestyle for thousands of years. Neither were they totally ignorant of the outside world, as northern Aborigines had contacts with Indonesian sailors, traders, and slave-catchers long before Captain Cook "discovered" Australia. Some of the materials bartered found their way far inland.

Though infant mortality and incidence of violent death in war and quarrels was higher than in Europe, in the year 1800 it was probably true that the average Aborigine had as good a standard of living as the average European---or better. They may not have had houses, but they felt no need for them in most parts of the country. They were nomads who didn't have sheep or cattle, but who wandered their beloved country in conjunction with natural seasons of plenty. Their diet was better than that enjoyed by many European peasants or factory workers, they had more leisure time, working fewer hours to get what they needed to live (and did not rely on child labor) and a richer cultural life in which all participated. The way in which the Aborigines conquered their environment and managed to wrest from it such a standard of living is indeed nothing less than a triumph. If you tend to think of Aborigines in terms of losers in the battle for survival, read this book. If all you know about Aboriginal triumph is Cathy Freeman winning that gold medal at the Sydney Olympics, read this well-written, interesting volume to know she came from a tremendously long line of tough, successful people.

Now in a fully updated and significantly expanded fifth edition, Trout Fishing: A Guide To New Zealand's South Island by conservationist and expert angler Tony Busch is a thoroughly detailed guide to over 400 fishing spots and some of the best trout waters to be found. General tips and tactics for seasoned fishermen, black-and-white photographs, maps, and in-depth knowledge and love of the fine trout fishing waters to be found on New Zealand's South Island characterize this handy and expertly written resource. As enjoyable to read for armchair fishermen looking to experience an impression of New Zealand's waters as it is for dedicated enthusiasts who live or plan to vacation there.

"Turtle Island" is a excellent little book that not only provides a brief history of Ascension Island, but also wonderfully portrays the author's experiences of life on that remote spot about which few know or care. For sometime, I have been fascinated with this place and "Turtle Island" gave me a window on Ascension that is valuable, as realistically I will probably never get around to visiting the island.

Filled with interesting anecdotes about life on Ascension and the work of visiting biologists studying the migration habits of the Green Turtle, "Turtle Island" is a quick, entertaining, and informative read. The thoughtful author has also compiled a "webography" to assist those readers who desire more information about Ascension Island via the Internet.

This book is simply a must read for all Australians and anyone interested in the colonial experience, in this case by white British 'official' settlers who marginalised the prior inhabitants of Kangaroo Island, and who were also white (unoffical European settlers and sealers) its not a race thing so much, as much as it became a race thing, its just that the marginalised were not 'recognised' socially, and no one would marry them and all their hard work was lost, appropriated by those with the right connections.

The story is compelling.

This book really shocked me in a positive sense. It is en excellent and comprehensive review on the origin, geology and biogeography or the tropical Pacific islands and archipelagos. It covers zone by zone thoroughly and directly resulting in a great compilation of updated information, including orography, soils, area of the islands/archipelagos, geographic position, rock types, levels of disturbance or preservation, etcetera.

Being the vegetation the main topic, the book presents the general and particular trends of evolution, biogeography and composition of plant communities, as well as taxonomic affinities, changes with altitudinal gradients, dominant and most common species per community, influences of the regional weather patterns like typhoons, El Niño phenomenon, and others. It is a great and elegant explanation of why, when and how the varied islands of the tropical Pacific have gotten their vegetation! Please do not expect a simple list of species present in the area.

I really have minor blames, being one the lack of better, bigger and more specific photographs of the diferent islands, plant communities, and species. In the future, a file of great photographs should be added to increase the excellence of the book.

Finally, reading it has left me with a better understanding of the fantastic evolution of the old Panthalassia until becoming the modern Pacific ocean (with its complex basins and seamounts, volcanos, island chains, frightening sea bottoms and trenches) as a result of the impressive breaking and drifting of all components of Gondwanaland!

An eclectic and fascinating collection of critical essays, memoirs, poetry and artwork addressing this forgotten war.

This book is nicely detailed and will be a welcome companion on my trip to Victoria.