Pacific University Books

A fascinating read of pre-Lewis and Clark explorations into the upper Missouri River Basin from its earliest beginnings, with the main focus on the 1795-1797 Mackay-Evans expedition.
Most people have never heard of Scotsman James Mackay and Welshman John Evans, but if it wasn't for their efforts in cartography and ethnology, the celebrated Lewis and Clark expedition would have been quite hampered in its early stages.
When the Louisana Territory was still under Spanish rule, Mackay became a naturalized citizen and Evans swore allegiance to Spain. Their responsibilities to Spain included exploring, mapping and locating a route to the Pacific for trade possibilities, evicting British traders in its territory and promoting Indian intertribal peace to further enhance trade with Spain. Evans' primary objective in accepting this offer was to locate the mythological Welsh Indians whose original Welsh ancestors were suppose to have settled in mid-America during the year 1170 AD.

Although not a completely successful mission, the Mackay-Evans expedition did produce maps of the upper Missouri which Lewis and Clark referred to on numerous occasions and opened understandings of Missouri River Indian cultures and customs.
Dr. Wood effectively sifts through the available journals and maps of Mackay and Evans, along with other pertinent papers and charts of the day, to make this an exciting work.

Excellent reference book for anyone who grows or plans to grow native plants. Will likely go out of print. Highly recommended for the native plant lover or nursery grower. Unusual book.

More than a century after his death in 1897, Henry George remains one of the most original and influential economic thinkers in American history. His revolutionary theory on land taxation gained a tremendous following, reshaped the nation's political and economic debate, and continues to be widely discussed throughout the world. His writings shaped a generation of statesmen and intellectuals, including Winston Churchill, Robert La Follette, Clarence Darrow, George Bernard Shaw, and Milton Freedman.

More than a century after his death in 1897, Henry George remains one of the most original and influential economic thinkers in American history. His revolutionary theory on land taxation gained a tremendous following, reshaped the nation's political and economic debate, and continues to be widely discussed throughout the world. His writings shaped a generation of statesmen and intellectuals, including Winston Churchill, Robert La Follette, Clarence Darrow, George Bernard Shaw, and Milton Freedman.

This book is a must for anyone interested in Sino-India relations. It chronologically analysizes the relations/events between modern China and India upto the late 1990's and mainly covers military and political aspects. It's interesting to read the Chinese view points and policies though understandably overall more of the Indian perceptions are explained.

The author John Garver has done a thorough job and I was suprised the the in-depth information on all important issues. References to Sardar Patel as leader 'realpolitik', failures of Indian diplomacy to garner support inspite of supporting democratic insistitutions/values in the region, China playing the Pakistan card to achieve higher status, India's sphere of influence v/s China's tributary status in the region, reasons for Sino-Soviet split are some of the few.

Now with post-Deng China attaining great economic progress and slowly abandoning its belligerent Maoist policies, it would be good to see if it can sustain this level of progress without social change and freedom. At the same time India's bureaucratic and dysfunctional democratic system needs a lot of catching up to do if it wants to reduce the progress gap with China. The opening of the Nathu-La pass, the Qinghai-Tibet railway, fierce competition for global energy resourses etc.; these two Asian giants are getting more interactive leading to rivalalry with few instances of cooperation. Like John Garver says that unless India is willing to become a junior partner of China in the emerging world order, we may further see Sino-Indian rivalry in the 21st century.

A very interesting theory on why society is what it is today, and how it began. Also, Ward asserts that human beings are at a point in which they have enough knowledge to control how society functions in the future. His vision is a hands on control of evolution based on observations of how the evolution of nature works. This text is a crossroad where science and humanity meet.

As you've noticed, the above book description begins as follows: "This book is an attempt to study historically and critically ...."

You'll find the same words in the opening sentence of the book's Preface. This is traditional Quaker humility.

Actually, this book is a gracefully written and enjoyable account of the Quakers far-reaching influence on the religious and public life of the colonial era with some soul searching into the decline of their influence after the Revolution. This was partly caused by the Quaker moral objection to war.

But, Jones sees another significant cause. He believes the Quakers were too slow to establish the educational institutions that would better elaborate their vision for future generations and help spread its message to others. Maybe their natural skepticism of institutional structure went a little too far.

300 years ago, Quaker theology offered American colonials its faith in an inward religion accessible to everyone, and the cultivation of an outward life consistent with understandable religious principles. It's a liberating idea, then and now.

This book is 215 pages in length. It is a comprehensive history of the Quanah, Acme & Pacific Railway. The author has done a more than wonderful job of presenting the information in a fascinating way. I stayed awake too late on quite a few nights reading this book. The Q. A. & P. was a very small railroad but makes up for its size with loads of history and it's all in this book. My interest in this railroad is due to the fact that it later became part of the St. Louis - San Francisco (Frisco) Railway. If you are a railroad history buff you will love this book. My highest rating!

Ever since the time of Captain Cook, Europeans have been fascinated with Polynesian origins. Where did they come from? How did they get here? Were others here before them? By studying Polynesian society, Europeans could get an insight into their own neolithic origins, and thus come to a better understanding of their own psyche.

Professor Howe reviews the latest findings of archaeologists, linguists, ethno-botanists, and physical biologists. These confirm that Captain Cook got it about right: the ancestors of the peoples of Polynesia came down from China, honing their skills as they went, in horticulture, boat-building, inter-island trading and ocean navigation. And a drastic selection process developed them into big, strong, hardy populations who could cope with long ocean voyages.

But Polynesian oral tradition adds little light on this pre-history; Howe says those traditional stories have more to do with legitimising the present situation of the speaker than with objectively retelling the past.

And this is where Howe's book becomes really interesting: he is not an anthropologist but a professor of history (at Auckland's MUA), and his book is a history of all the theories that have been put forward by Europeans in the past 200 years, both those backed by hard evidence, and also the theories based on psychological need, cultural conditioning and prejudice.

Early missionaries saw the peoples of Polynesia as Semitic, remnants of a Lost Tribe of Israel, degenerate but redeemable. Later in the 19th century, mythologists connected South Sea nature myths with Germanic ones and proclaimed an Aryan origin for Polynesians. And in the early 20th century came diffusionists. They postulated that civilization had only ever emerged once, in Egypt, and diffused to South-east Asia and then Polynesia, deteriorating as it went.

Then showman-adventurer Thor Heyedahl "proved" that the Pacific had been populated from Egypt via South America. (It could have been too, if the South Americans had been able to hire diesel tugboats to tow their rafts like Heyerdahl did!). And "New Age" dreamers have resurrected old ideas that the Pacific Islands are the remnants of the sunken continent of Mu, and that Polynesians the remnants of the great civilization that flourished on it.

Howe shows the irrationality of these anti-intellectual fantasies, and analyses them to reveal a pattern of colonialist ideology in most of them. Just like the old Polynesian story-tellers, the colonists are more concerned with legitimising their present situation than with objectively retelling the past.

The book's cover illustration is a perfect example of this colonialist propaganda: with Goldie and Steele's "Arrival of the Maori," a highly offensive parody of Gericault's "Raft of the Medusa," portraying incompetent Polynesian voyagers being washed up on New Zealand's shores by chance, unlike the superior Europeans.

Comprehensive and up-to-date, but concise and readable, and with a huge bibliography, "The Quest for Origins" is an essential guide not only to New Zealand's distant past, but also to its anti-intellectual present.

Railscapes: A Northern Pacific Brasspounder's Album is a photographic and reminiscent tribute by noted regional photographer and railroad expert Jim Fredrickson in honor of more than six decades of American railroading. Black-and-white images are arranged thematically in order to best showcase a vast variety of trains, and the insightful commentary of Fredrickson offers considerable insights on the past, present, and future of America's railways. Very highly recommended for railroad photography buffs, Railscapes is also available in a hardcover edition.