Oceania Books

D'Entrecasteaux was a talented French navigator, tapped in 1792 to lead a "rescue" operation to find the great French explorer La Perouse, whose Pacific expedition had vanished without a trace in 1789. The collective French desire to find and rescue this great man was intense, and transcended political boundaries. Indeed, in his last moments before facing the guillotine, King Louis XVI had asked "What news of La Perouse?" When the expedition did sail, however, it was torn between three conflicting directives; first, the "official" rescue mission, second, pure scientific research and discovery; third, to check British influence in the Pacific region. Thus it was that D'Entrecasteaux ended up zig-zagging around the South Pacific in an effort first to check whether the British were truly settling the Admiralty islands (they weren't), then to look for La Perouse (they didn't find him) and then to seek out new discoveries (he discovered the Recherche Archipelago, among others). Sadly, however, D'Entrecasteaux died of scurvy in 1793, and his expedition was commandeered by d'Auribeau, a royalist sympathizer determined to stop the ships falling into the hands of the new republic. He surrendered the expedition to the Dutch authorities in Java, and through this and a series of further misadventures, the expedition's papers were not published for another ten years.

Horner's account is through and enjoyable, and pays particular tribute to D'Entrecasteaux's contribution to Australian exploration, notably in Tasmania, where he discovered the celebrated D'Entrecasteaux Channel, an excellent deep water channel separating Bruny Island from Tasmania's east coast, which is now a highly popular cruise ship destination.

I was deeply moved by this incredible historical account of explorers and exploiters of the South Pacific. Learn more about the fabulous voyages of Captain Cook, Magellan and others. Learn about the tragic loss of the Polynesian culture. Also read: Rascals In Paradise by James Michener

A travel-agent friend of mine put me onto these guides and suggested I get the one for Melbourne, Australia where I was planning to visit. The people behind these guides have managed to come up with a format (compact, fold out, about the size of an airline ticket - back when airlines actually printed out tickets!) that is both easy to carry and is PACKED full of very well researched, updated info for the traveller looking for the best experience, not the cheapest. These guides have a definite emphasis on shopping and eating, and will lead you to all sorts of places you might not find on your own. It also covered hotels, sightseeing, spas, and other highlights all in a fun, kicky, irreverent, slightly mad style. I'm a big fan of travel guide books and I am a big fan of these ones now.

Derek Schuurman helped put togther an unbelievable backpacking safari through Madagascar for my group and his book helped guide us while we were on adventure and kept us alive! Combines valuable info on places, wildlife, foods, etc plus some nice helpful malagasy phrases.

This is the epitome of New Zealand books, if pictures are sought after. I have searched for a good "picture" book on the country for a while now, and this book was a GREAT find! Not text heavy, the book is a nice, light viewing of a faraway, beautiful land. Gorgeous pictures, brief synopsis for each, and a short but insightful preface make this a wonderful book to keep for a reminder that there are still some truly wonderous places on this earth!

What was it like to be one of the half-million Marines in service from 1939 to 1945? Gordon L. Rottman tells all in a slim, 64-page book packed with vintage photographs and eight pages of color drawings by Howard Gerrard. Rottman orients the reader with a chronology, then writes about conscription and how it affected the Corps. When I was a Marine recruit at MCRD San Diego in June thorugh September 1975, I was told that Marines were all volunteers, that none were drafted. Rottman gave a good account of how the Marine Corps claim of "no draftees" and the US law that ended voluntary enlistments on December 5, 1942 were reconciled: Selective Service Volunteers! The Blue Star program was mentioned. Then Rottman got into the subjects that were my reason for buying his book:
* Training
* Appearance
* Equipment
* Belief and belonging
* Camp Pendleton
* Conditions of service
* On campaign
* The aftermath of battle
* collections, museum,s and reenactments

The color plate section shows the naval service identity disks (dog tags), the Marine's Handbook, C and K rations, the contents of the first aid kit and toilet articles. Rottman condensed the experience of being a World War Two Marine into a short, easy to digest book.

Infantry combat is a team sport, not individual competition--and Rottman begins by taking the reader through basic. Today, a minimum of 16 weeks of combat training is required before committing a new Marine to combat--but in the early scramble to build up the Corps, boot camp was shortened to three weeks. By 1944, basic training in either San Diego, California, or Parris Island, South Carolina, was officially eight weeks. Basic training was (and still is) all about making team players. After basic training, the newly-minted private is then assigned to his new squad and has to train all over again so that the 13 Marines can function as a single organism. At the beginning of the war, peacetime rifle strength was eight Marines, usually all armed with the M1903A1 Springfield rifle. On paper, there was supposed to be an automatic rifle in the squad. The Marine rifle squad was commanded by a corporal and was organized the same as an Army rifle squad. Wartime strength was supposed to be 12 men in both services. By 1944, the Marines had found a better way to organize the squad, one that is still used today. A sergeant commanded three corporal fire team leaders. Each fire team was built around an automatic rifle, which provided the bulk of the fire team's killing power, along with hand and rifle grenades--though officially the M1 Garand semi-automatic rifle was the rifle squad's major weapon system. The rest of the squad was armed with a mix of M1 carbines, M1 rifles, the occassional Thompson submachine gun or Springfield rifle, perhaps the new M3 "grease gun" submachine gun, demolitions, grenades, K-bar jungle knives, bayonets, and sometimes a pistol or two. Battle experience found that a small group could survive and fight better than a large squad, and the platoon leader, squad leader, and fire team leader of 1944 wasn't as over-extended as the 1940 counterparts: the platoon leader directed three squad leaders, each squad leader directed three fire team leaders, and each fire team leader directed three riflemen (okay, and automatic rifleman, and assistant automatic rifleman, and a scout!). This modular organization functioned better in the latter frontal assaults from the sea against Japanese deliberate area ambushes from fortified fighting positions. Under the old organization, a squad would be paralyzed if it took two or three casualties. With the three fire-team organization, as long as the fire teams took no more than one casualty each, they remained effective because the casualties were compartmented. One entire fire team could be lost and the squad could still function. If two fire teams went down, the remaining fire team could and did conduct the squad's mission. There was a heavy price paid for this--the units had to be rebuilt after combat operations.

Two of Rottman's books appear in the bibliography. While Marine Rifleman provides a concise overview, some people will see this book as a starting point. Marine Rifleman provides enough informaiton on its own for most readers.

Extract of a review by Stacy C. Kozakavich, Dept. of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley

Discussing the archaeological sites for colonial shipwrecks, Mark Staniforth introduces readers to the Sydney Cove 1797, the William Salthouse 1841, James Matthews 1841, and the Eglington 1852, all lost carrying speculative cargo on their first voyage to Australian destinations. ...
Despite some weaknesses, Staniforth's work offers particular strengths to those engaged in the study of consumer society and capitalism. First is the focus on international networks of colonial trade that brought goods from India, China, Canada, and the United States to British colonies and Australia. Second is Staniforth's commitment to bringing questions of social and material meanings, usually footed in the domain of terrestrial archaeologists, to maritime archaeology. While his specific interpretations of material culture may be reevaluated by future scholarship, this work will remain important as part of the bridge between land and sea.

I have travelled before using the "old standards" (Lonely Planet, Let's Go, etc), but I have never been fully statisfied by them. When I stumbled upon this series, I was amazed. They include so much information, it is like a god-send! It was a history lesson, language tutor, and travel guide all in one! Over half of the book was comprised of the history of the island, local slang, and the culture of the Kiwis. The travel section was not lacking by any means. It mentioned places other books did not, and give a through description of the listings, along with local signifigance. It had everything I'd ever dreamed a travel book would have. I'd recommend all the books in this series and I plan to use them exclusively for all my further travels.

This book is not out of print! It is available from the American Gamelan Institute at agi@gamelan.org. It, and two similar volumes, are a wonderful collection of short stories, poems, photos, and other selections that attest to the depth of Indonesia's artists.

Although out of print and out of date, this is still a superb and unparalleled picture guide to the terrain of New Zealand. The mountains, coasts, and parklands it covers should be essentially unchanged since the publication date of 1982. The copious and excellent photo coverage is beautifully organized with thunmbnail locater maps on every two page spread to help you pinpoint the areas that look most interesting for a visit.