Oceania Books

I read Steve Thomas' book in the evenings while I was staying at Trader's Ridge Resort on Yap. Steve's clarity and attention to detail taught me not only about the rudiments of traditional oceanic navigation, but also opened my eyes more fully to Micronesian culture, and attuned me to how delicately it hangs between the encroachments of the West and the timeless pace of these islands. Even if you will never see a sailing canoe, this book will change your life. Well done.

This book is one of the few good 1980's attempts to document the voyaging culture of the Caroline Islands of Micronesia. It follows Kenneth Brower's 'Song For Satawal', which is now out of print!

Plenty of authentic stuff to make this a good read even if you get queasy at the insecurities and soul-searching and quest for meaning that pervades this account of one man's unique adventure in the Pacific.

There is lots of interesting anthropology (or is it sociology?) here, such as the system for ownership and preservation/protection of marine resources. Good background for anyone working in resource management in the Pacific.

The image that sticks in my mind after reading this book is the agonizing, slow-motion demise of traditional society in the small islands of the Carolines. The Carolines had centuries of Spanish/German/Japanese/USA stepping on their culture, still they managed to resurrect the voyaging skills, but now face the competition of outboards, charts, technological changes. Their oral tradition recorded vast local knowledge of this part of the pacific ocean, but the younger generations for some reason don't have the desire to avail themselves. Youngsters move away, they choose to join the workaday world instead of developing their skills at the traditonal systems that proferred self-sufficiency to their ancestors. The youngsters don't want the old way.

The few remaining navigators are at a loss how to preserve the sailing traditions, so one of them accepts a student from Boston, Mass. This guy (the author, Steve) goes to Satawal, home of the greatest surviving ocean-voyaging practitioners, and he spends a LOT of time learning the language, learning the rules, getting informants to tell him about the legends, secret knowledge and systematics of ocean navigation according to the hand-me-down skills of these descendents of the sailors who populated the pacific ocean islands. In the process he manages to get in unpleasant binds over taboos, local politics, and even gets to go fishing and sailing with the natives. The book is liberally salted with the concepts, specifics, and vocabulary of native voyaging, and there is an appendix at the end that gives glossaries, diagrams, etc.

The book is good but where is the video that I saw on Public Television several years ago?
How do I get a copy?
How do I get in touch with Steve Thomas?

The original edition of Thomas' saga showed an excellent example of the truly gifted amateur contributing to the practical art of cultural analysis. Drawn to solve a personal intellectual problem on how the early polynesians navigated, Thomas chose the solution of walking in their "mocassins" or paddling in their canoes, learning their language and living their culture. I found his journey as intriguing as the quests of Oliver Sachs(Island of the Color-blind People) or Jared Diamond (Guns, Germs and Civilization) and as intricate as Dva Sobel's tracing of the development of the Chronometer (Longitude). His tool of learning about these people by choosing their most precious historical achievement was inspired. His report by cross-referencing his modern "quantified" vision with their "common sense" qualitative analysis of the sea and its trails is a fascinating tale of multi-cultural experiences. Will he ever return? Even if the island culture is forever changed, one can only hope that he will in some way give us a follow-up picture. Professional scientists and anthropologists should note that Thomas' approach solves the "solipsistic problem" of intercultural communication as effectively as the "Seti Project" hopes to in the future. It is as interesting as Carl Sagan's fiction-- "Contact", but much closer than one might imagine.

The original edition of Thomas' saga showed an excellent example of the truly gifted amateur contributing to the practical art of cultural analysis. Drawn to solve a personal intellectual problem on how the early polynesians navigated, Thomas chose the solution of walking in their "mocassins" or paddling in their canoes, learning their language and living their culture. I found his journey as intriguing as the quests of Oliver Sachs(Island of the Color-blind People) or Jared Diamond (Guns, Germs and Civilization) and as intricate as Dva Sobel's tracing of the development of the Chronometer (Longitude). His tool of learning about these people by choosing their most precious historical achievement was inspired. His report by cross-referencing his modern "quantified" vision with their "common sense" qualitative analysis of the sea and its trails is a fascinating tale of multi-cultural experiences. Will he ever return? Even if the island culture is forever changed, one can only hope that he will in some way give us a follow-up picture. Professional scientists and anthropologists should note that Thomas' approach solves the "solipsistic problem" of intercultural communication as effectively as the "Seti Project" hopes to in the future. It is as interesting as Carl Sagan's fiction-- "Contact", but much closer than one might imagine.

David Morgan has written a fascinating book on the history of the Mongols and Genghis Khan. The book provides an overview of the government, religion, and politics of the Mongolian Empire and provides a very good start to understanding the Mongols. This is an excellent source to learn about one of the greatest military and social leaders in history, and is recommended for anyone who seeks a greater understanding of role of the Mongols in world history.

Morgan writes an academic book of 13th century Mongolian history, culture and building of their societal infrastructure in 1986. Avoiding the titillating slash, burn, rape and pillage aspects of their conquests, a popular depiction of the Mongolian Yellow Horde, his scholarly topics give an insider's view of Medieval Mongolian society, politics, warfare, taxation, communications, laws, and adoption of conquered peoples' technology, culture and religion.

The first illustration is a 2-page spread, Map 1 (of 3 maps) of The Mongol Empire (pxii-xiii) providing an eye-catching beginning, which stretches from Korea to Italy, and emphasizes a central grayed patch of the subjugated Middle East south of the Black to the Aral Seas. The book includes 33 b&w illustrations about 1/2-1 page each, 12 pgs of references, and a 12 pg index in the original 1986 edition (reviewed). The second edition appears to be a briefly re-edited original and adding a final Chapter 9, "The Mongol Empire since 1985," about 20+ pages, unread.

It is amazing that they did this all on horseback, an indigenous part of 13th century Mongolian culture. Siberian and Mongolian peoples have a non-materialistic culture reflecting the resource-limited landlocked region. It is amazing that this was a family-owned enterprise and its Fall was exacerbated by not building a firmer and broader governmental base of infrastructural strength and succession. For example this period included a new adoption of a written formalization of the Mongolian language (p10) (like Arabic) and conversion from a Shamanistic religion towards Islam (p44). Included is the dispersal of Mongolian bloodlines (Chap6) begetting the Cossack, Tatar and Turkic peoples and expansion of the Islamic and Moslem religions adopted from Persia in modern-day Iran.

Morgan's book is a very good read that will broaden and deepen one's understanding on how the Asiatic Mongols created a vast empire, which enslaved more than half of the world's population, during a fundamentally important century in world history. His book's admitted limitation (p6) is his lack of fluency in Eurasian and Middle Eastern languages, so he is inherently limited to English translations and their biases.

Thus his book is limited to compiling previously published works, unfortunately not really getting inside the heads of the Mongolian leadership and uncovering and interpreting the whys and wherefores of their culture and motivation. Even after perusing the 6th Century BC Chinese Sun Tzu, "The Art of War," one is still left with an unsatisfied curiosity and understanding. Perhaps a more intimate multicultural, multidisciplinary anthology on this topic will be researched and written in the future.

The Rest of the Story

The 13th century was an exciting Renaissance era of the High Middle Ages in Medieval Europe. Innovative examples were the start of non-secular universities of higher learning and adoption of the magnetic compass, gunpowder, and printing on paper technologies. Surgical medicine and mechanical clocks was invented at the time and engineers started harnessing super-human/animal power using windmills, belts and gears with machinery. Gothic art and architecture was started at this time with building fortified castles for protection and roads for trade, not war (Roman).

Later in the 14th Century, Eurasia's Black Plague killed off half of its population, a wasting systemic immune disease caused by bacterium in fleas spread by rodent hosts, originally carried by the Mongolians (p133). The spread of this disease was exacerbated by long periods of war, climatic change, crop failures and subsequent famine in conquered China and Europe. This self-limiting event effectively ended the Mongolian empire.

Even with fast horses and a nomadic society with armies of half million (p88) and their supply lines, it is hard to imagine crossing the formidable cold, high deserts of current Central Asia. Serious consideration of recent work in Palaeo-Climatology is needed to believe a century of successful Mongolian conquest. Unbeknownst to the author, a much more favorable lush grass steppes existed 700-800 years ago. Now referred as the Medieval Warm Period, the geologic record in Northern Europe coincides with a peak in solar activity named the Medieval Maximum (1100-1250). Also there is a fundamental Milankovitch theory on cyclic climatic change due to the earth's eccentric orbit and tilt wobble.

The climatological Jet Stream across Central Asia follows a southeasterly direction from the Eurasian Arctic towards the Mongolia and Tibetan plateaus, bringing much more rain to the Middle East and Central Asia, further enhancing the nomadic life style and encouraging imperialism. Palaeoclimatolgists have shown that Central Asia, the Caspian Sea region and Altai Mountain range had "a milder, less continental climate with more precipitation approximately from the 9th to 12th centuries" by analyzing sediment cores in Lake Baikal, the deepest and largest lake in Eurasia, just north of the Old Silk Road in Siberian Russia.

Additionally, NE China was wetter during the Medieval Warm Period upon analyzing pollen cores in the Maili Bog in NE China's (Manchuria) Jilin mountainous province, indicating more monsoon rains during that 200-year period. Thus conclusively palaeoclimatogists have shown that a warmer and wetter climate existed in 13th Century Eurasia thus facilitating a great surge in a hungry, mobile Mongolian population and resulted in conquest, imperialism and world domination.

And the palaeoclimatological Little Ice Age starting in the 14th Century effectively ended the Mongolian Empire precipiated by Europe's Great Famine of 1315-1317.

From teaching in the UK, Morgan emigrated to the States and is now the senior member of a staff of three in Middle Eastern History. He has been Professor of History and Religious Studies (Islam), U Wisconsin, Madison since 1999. He was recruited to grow its Middle East studies program, the smallest part of the Dept of History, College of L&S. He was Director of Middle East Studies, 2002-6, with research interests in the history of Iran and Islamic Central Asia. With a Middle East History section having 1 TA and 5 grad students, even with the CIA's current emphasis on growing America's understanding of Middle East's language, ideology and culture, only a small dent is being prepared at U Wisconsin. BA 1966, Oxford; PhD 1977 U London, thesis: Mongols in Iran; on faculty of U London's African and Oriental Studies program for 24 yrs.

In the wake of Jack Weatherford's extremely popular "Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World," I'm guessing interest in Genghis Khan and his Mongolian Empire is reaching new heights. I must admit that I, too, was introduced into the fascinating world of the Mongolians through Weatherford's bestseller, so I owe him alot for introducing to me what I consider a new passion in life.

Weatherford's work, while being extremely well researched and well written, is extremely revisionist, and gives a very forgiving and optimistic account of Genghis Khan, his predecessors, and their abilities. Weatherford takes great pains to combat the traditional stereotypes of Genghis Khan and the Mongolians as barbaric, mass-murdering hordes. At the same time, I feel that since for many people Weatherford's book will be the very first people read about the Mongols, alot of people will get an impression of the Mongols that is a little too favorable and optimistic, and this is where David Morgan's "The Mongols" comes in.

"The Mongols" is, in a word, sober. On one hand, it definitely breaks away from the precedent set by medieval scholars in viewing Genghis Khan and the Mongols as purely forces of wanton destruction. Whenever Morgan evaluates a primary source, which he does often, he takes great pains to weed out any political motivations to skewer numbers and accounts that existed at the time, of which there were many. This means that Morgan never overestimates Mongol detruction, but he doesn't underestimate it either, which what Weatherford seems to have done, basing his book on select sources. I therefore recommend "The Mongols" as a good, middle-of-the-road source for establishing the historical events of the 12th to 13th century. When reading "The Mongols," one always gets a sense that Morgan is a level-headed, unbiased thinker, which is the perfect type of historian necessary for a period as tumultuous as the years of the Mongolian Empire. It's a good followup to "Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World," together the two books give an good picture.

Additionaly, since this book is part of "The Peoples of Europe" collection, this book includes a special focus on the Mongols interactions with Europe, including both direct interaction in the invasions of Russia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe, and indirect interactions in the forms of the emmisaries, missionaries, merchants, and diplomats that were excanged between the East and the West. Much to my surprise, being a part of "The Peoples of Europe" series did not exclude a very thorough and extensive coverage of Mongol activity in Persia, Central Asia, and China, so when viewed as a whole, Morgan's work is still a very complete coverage.

David Morgan's hisory of the Mongols is a "must read" for anyone serioussly interested in Mongolian history and culture. This is a well written, highly readable and comprehensive study of the largest empire the world has ever seen.

Morgan's book is easily the best introduction to one of the more interesting peoples of history. It's as much an account of the historiography of Mongol studies as it is a study of the Mongol people, as Morgan details the extant sources available to modern scholars for the subject. This is important, given the scope of the Mongol empire, which at its peak reached from China to Hungary, encompassing all that was in between. Such breadth of conquest places great demands on historians, limiting anybody who is not a polyglot of the languages of the era to base their study on the region in which they specialize and translations of the other languages. A student of Persian, Morgan makes an excellent case for the quality of the sources in that language.

Still, the lack of a written Mongolian language (not developed until the reign of Chingiz Khan) means that much of the history of the empire is lost to us, and that what does exist is produced by outsiders. Nevertheless, Morgan does a first-rate job of describing its expansion and operation. He explains that the Mongols owed their incredible success to their use of mounted warriors, a natural role for a nomadic people. This heavy use of horses both gave them and also limited their conquests: Morgan theorizes that inadequate pastureland may have been a critical factor in the withdrawal of Mongol invaders from both Hungary in 1242 and Syria in 1260. But the most revealing factor of the importance of the Mongol army in its historical achievements lay in the overthrow of Mongol rule; it was in the areas where the Mongols were able to maintain their nomadic lifestyles (and thus their military advantage) that Mongol control proved most enduring. In all, Morgan provides a good, concise overview of a fascinating subject.

I found this to be a well written and extremely interesting collection of "real war stories". It was gratifying to read the combat, as well as the "backwater" stories of the people who carried the fight to the enemy in the Pacific theater. Full of simple stories, as well as full of harrowing bloody accounts, the book brings to life a sense of how the complete war was fought from the individuals viewpoint. Highly recommended, an easy read.

If you want to share very vivid rememberances of what it was like in the Pacific, this is the book to buy! Wonderful stories you can't put down. You will feel transported there. A must read.

I thought this book created a comprehensive overview of the war in the Pacific. So much attention has been given to the war in Europe, it was nice to get a better understanding of what so many overlooked veterans experienced. The author did an excellent job of gathering information and stories to help the reader see the war from many perspectives.

THE FACT THAT THE 13TH AIR FORCE WAS WAS NOT MENTIONED IN THIS BOOK INDICATES THAT OLIVER NORTHS REFERENCES WERE FLAWED. I SERVED IN THE 13TH AIR FORCE AND FLEW B24'S ON MISSIONS TO RABAUL,BALIKAPAN, MINDINAO, LUZON, AND SEVERAL AGAINST THE JAPANESE FLEET. OUR LOSSES ON OUR BALIKAPAN RAIDS WERE AS MUCH AS 50 PERCENT OF OUR AIR CRAFT AND CREWS. WE OPERATED FROM LEA NEW GUINEA AND ANOTHER ISLAND NOT MENTIONED " MOROTAI". OUR 307TH BOMB GROUP WILL HAVE THEIR EVERY TWO YEAR REUNION IN SEATTLE AUGUST 23, TO 26, 2006.

World War II is now sixty years old. The commanders, older than the troops have passed on. The stories that are left to be told have to come second hand, or from the troops themselves, the young men that carried the rifles, drove the tanks, or more likely did the thousand and one other tasks that make a modern military work. Regardless of their assigned task, an awful lot of these people came under attack somewhere, they were captured and in prison camps for years, and these at least came back to tell their tale. Often they had held inside what they had seen and done.

Here are the recorded stories of 70 veterans of the pacific war. This is not the big story of how the Marines went in at Tarawa, learned about how to invade, polished it up, and went on to win the war. Instead this is the story of the marine that goes ashore on Guadalcanal a month after the first invasion, he eventually goes up to the combat line. He never sees a Japanese solder. This is the flyer who is sent to the hospital with malaria and misses the battle. These are the people who won the war. I am reminded of the line from John Milton: "They Also Serve Who Only Stand And Wait."

These are fascinating stories from people we'll never meet.

Written with insight and humor, Audrey McCollum's thoughtful work reflects the struggle of a group of women of color to attain personal and economic power. It also chronicles the growth of an extraordinary friendship between McCollum, a white American psychotherapist, and Pirip Kuru, a remarkable Papuan woman whose persistance, despite limited education and virtually no resources, has changed the lives of many others in Papua New Guinea. Equally important is the author's personal story, intertwined with Pirip Kuru's, which reveals not only the deepening of McCollum's understanding of Pirip's life and circumstances, but of her own life as well. Brief but useful bibliography; glossary; index. A valuable resource for general readers and students of anthropology and women's studies.

Two Women Two Worlds by Audrey McCollum is a very enjoyable read. It made me smile, made me sad, it held my interest. The geographical descriptions along with wonderful photos let me see a part of the world I know I will never see in person.

One might expect "Two Women, Two Worlds" to be informative and enlightening, and it is. I was unprepared for it to be so thoroughly entertaining. The story, stitching through several visits by the author to Papua New Guinea over more than a decade, is a page- turner.

Life in the high country of Papua New Guinea is unimaginable to those of us who inhabit the Western World. Brilliantly described by Audrey McCollum, the people and their lifestyle become vivid and close. What a revelation to find that Pirip, a woman from a primitive culture half way around the world, has many of the same priorities that I do, both in terms of sense of self and quality of life.

The author, a highly educated and sophisticated woman, generously shares with Pirip, and with us, her readers, her own difficult human experiences. In fact, Audrey's challenges seem to help her relate to Pirip's uphill struggle, as she tries to effect change in her male dominated society.

Let me hasten to say, however, that this is not just a "women's book." My husband picked it up and couldn't put it down. "Two Women, Two Worlds" is well worth reading. There's enjoyment on every page, and a great deal to be learned along the way.

The author, a Manhattanite psychotherapist now a long-time resident of New Hampshire, has made many trips to Papua New Guinea over a period of years. Accompanied by her doctor husband, these have also been journies of self-discovery. She meets Pirip, a leader in the new PNG feminist movement and their lives intertwine. Papua New Guinea is changing rapidly as Western civilization encroaches with very uneven results. There are many descriptions of ceremonies such as weddings revolving about brideprice, living conditions, and clothing or lack therof-'as gras'. People are depicted as very real to the reader rather than as exotic 'natives'. There are also many vivid color photographs. The author brings maturity, and insight to this new world. This is a valuable book for adventurous travelers who might like to plan a trip that goes beyond the ordinary to connect to a local culture.

Author McCollum has written a perceptive and fine account of her relationship with a PNG woman, Pirip.The book is based on seven years of repeated visits to PNG accompanied by her husband, a retired medical school dean. She describes her growing relationship with Pirip as one from which they both learned and profited enormously. She expertly weaves together the subtle, and not so subtle problems she encounters (feminism, "progress", the enviroment, men's issues). The book is enhanced by carefully selected photographs. This book was a pleasure to read.

Australia's desolate interior evokes much legend. Dominating the legends are the traverses of European explorers in the region. Among these legends, that of Burke and Wills retains a lofty status, one Sarah Murgatroyd may have forever toppled. She has given the tradition of explorer heroics a strenuous airing with this book. Few reputations are left unsmirched, but her real assault centres on the incompetence of the expedition's leader, Robert O'Hara Burke.

The author relates how Burke left Melbourne, Victoria, in 1860 with several ambitions, muddled instructions and devoid of capabilities to manage the task. Behind his straggling team were a cabal of businessmen intent on extending Victoria's borders. Beyond that, they also hoped to initiate a telegraph line route to Asia, thence to London. In competition with Adelaide to the west, both cities had sponsored expeditions to traverse the continent from south to north. Others had made the attempt, but the travails of crossing a land intolerant of blundering had thwarted them all. Burke was aware of a major competitor in the figure of Charles McDouall Stuart who had nearly succeeded before turning back. Burke, among other things, saw the enterprise as a race - which he intended to win.

Murgatroyed demonstrates how that aspect, among others, doomed the expedition from the beginning. Burke's undue haste led to launching the trek at the worst time of year. He quarreled with subordinates, sacked members of the team and scorned delays occasioned by scientific studies. His fatal error was in dividing the group, ultimately leaving most of his companions behind to make a dash to the northern sea. It was the fragmenting of the expedition that led to conflicting priorities and delays. In the end, not able to actually observe the sea, three survivors of the dash north returned to the rendezvous point to find the word "Dig" carved in a tree. It wasn't enough to save the two leaders surviving the journey.

In analysing Burke's actions, Murgatroyd contrasts them with others, some having set out to rescue the lost venturers. As she points out, the business leaders of Melbourne enhanced the already general view that the only thing considered more "heroic than a successful explorer was a dead one." Melbourne now had two in Burke and his subordinate William Wills. The legend of their heroism was almost manufactured by those who'd sponsored the expedition. The hagiography surrounding the pair has persisted in strength for over a century.

Murgatroyd dispels that idolatry effectively. She cannot be faulted for viewing the past with modern eyes as some are led to do. As a journalist's account, the book is not footnoted, although she provides a good reading list. Her style is open and forthright, keeping the reader close to the events related. She speculates but little, and her judgements are conveyed in sharp contrast. Various persona are portrayed in scathing terms. Even those driven by events escape but narrowly. Her account will dismay some, but none sink into ennui. Her rendition of a complex story makes excellent reading. Her loss to journalism is severe.

The late Sarah Murgatroyd has written a well researched and poignant account of this tragic expedition. Though l hesitate to use the word expedition, as it was poorly led and planned, perhaps a mad rush in the bush is a better description. Many times as a child l used to gaze at the statue of Burke and Wills, (Melbourne is my home town), when l visited the Museum and wondered how they died and why was that statue there. My schoolbooks portrayed them as tragic heroes, but l felt sorry for John King as these books seemed to minimize his achievement of survival

This book finally gives King the credit he deserves for his amazing survival and the tenacious ability he displayed to achieve this. Unfortunately his health was broken by the experience and he suffered much mental angiush for the remainder of his short life. This anguish, l suspect, derived from the charade he was forced to be a part of upon his return to Melbourne.

He was very critical of the Exploration Committee on the way back to Melbourne after his rescue but was stunned by the reception he received in Victoria on the way back to Melbourne where he was lauded as some type of hero. It was just too much for this quiet and unassuming man. He had to play along and hold his true thoughts about the Exploration Committee to himself. He was up against too much public emotion and powerful interests to upset the applecart, l also believe he felt very guilty about his survival.

This book captures the vastness and emptiness of the Australian interior and yet also describes the beauty of the outback. I have lived in the outback myself while working at remote weather stations. The description of the climate, landscape and vegetation of the part of the outback that the expedition traversed is concise and correct.

This book also gives an account of the expeditions of the explorer; the very able and resourceful John Macdouall Stuart and gives him the credit he richly deserves as a an explorer and a surveyor.

Like the trek it describes, 'Dig Tree' is almost successful. There's no denying that a lot of research went into this book, and in some ways, that's what holds it back. It's almost like Ms Murgatroyd is afraid to leave anything out.
The book also has too many editorial gaffes--wrong tenses, left out words--they're minor, but annoying. Whether or not they are the author's is beside the point, they should have been caught.
I'd certainly keep this on my Burke & Wills shelf--but the classic for me is Alan Moorehead's 'Cooper's Creek.'
Although I doubt Moorehead had access to all that Murgatroyd did, he still manages to tell the story with a great deal more panache.

The book describes the (unfortunate) journey of Burke and Wills and gives a good overview of other explorers of Australia. The author has a great ability to recreate mid-19th century Australian life and views. Overall, this is a superbly researched book that captivates the reader.

An excellent read that both informs and entertains. Ideal for anyone who has interest in Australia, Australian history or exploration. It may not be that interesting for those without these interests

Sarah Murgatroyd does a terrific job of assembling a compelling story of a doomed expedition across Australia. She carefully pulls together pieces from diaries, old news accounts, and official records, and even throws in insights into human and camel physiology when necessary.

The story moves along with interesting characters and sometimes heartbreaking events. Importantly, Murgatroyd grounds everything in historical research, giving her account valuable credibility.

If there's a weakness in this book it is only because the author does so well bringing the reader close to the events. You want the book to go one further step and recreate the conversations among the explorers, but of course it cannot do that.

This is a great book for anyone interested in adventure or Australian history.

Both my wife and I found this book to be very inferior to other guide books on Australia (eg Rough Guide is far superior in our opinon). The Moon Handbook gives just basic information on tourist sites which is okay, but it doesn't go into anything out of the ordinary. I bought the book because of the positive reviews and the recent edition (late 2005) - both of which were the wrong reasons to buy. The book is not worth lugging around Australia.

I bought a number of guides to Australia and studied each before leaving. They were all helpful in planning my trip, but Australia Handbook stood out for its coverage of the country in general as well as all the usual hotel and restaurant recommendations. As well as balancing this coverage, I found the book to be up to date and, with everywhere I traveled, anyway, coverage was thorough. Many guidebooks I have used in the past concentrate on the big cities, but this one led me further afield to the kind of places only locals would usually know about. By the end of my trip I was relying almost entirely on it for places to stay and eat, and couldn't find a fault in the choices provided.

I highly recommend this book to anyone traveling to Australia.

I bought several traveler information type books before my transcontinental trip to Australia last year. This was BY FAR the best! After only a few days, I "packed" the others away.

this book was a saving grace in my journeys of Australia. Before leaving America I was on drugs but after reading The Australia Handbook my life was changed. I am now 6 months substance free and madly searching for the wonderful young author or fisherman on pg.218 to make my life complete

We purchased this book before leaving for a six-week trip Downunder. It contained all the information we needed for pretrip planning as well as wealth of information on the country itself. Once in Australia I found it an indispensible aid for choosing what we wanted to see in the limited time we had. The accommodations and restaurants recommended were also spot on, and it was obvious to us as soon as we started traveling that the book is extremely well-researched.

Australia is truly a wonderful place, so it may sound cliched, but this book really helped make our trip everything we had dreamt of. I highly reccomend this book to anyone heading Downunder. It is well worth the investment.

J.C. Beaglehole has brought to life in this book, not only the greatest seaman and navigator ever, but a man that should be revered as a perfect showcase of human quality. The book is very long and detailed, but provides vast information of Captain James Cook and his voyages that added to our knowledge of geography, oceanography, biology, astronomy, navigation, health, and humanity. I recomend everyone old and young, of every ethnic background to read this book. In the end, the reader sees that it wasn't his accomplisments that made him famous, but his awesome moral beliefs of modesty, chastity, temperence, faithfulness, steadfastness, truth, honesty, loyalty, discilpline, and passion that define the very finest example of how to live as a human being.

The Life of Captain James Cook by Beaglehole is the book that I have been searching for a long time. For some reason, one of the greatest explorers and navigators in history never had a comprehensive biography written on. In a very short series of partial accounts, Beaglehole's book stands out as the most comprehensive biography ever written about cook. It is apparent that Beaglehole spend several years in researching, and the result is admireable in its depth and capacity. Although the book is sometimes hard to read, beacuse of the many details, it is still worth going through. Many unknown facts about Cook are being revealed, which throw a whole new perspective about his life .The author also did a good job in recreating the atmosphere of the life on an explotation ship, and putting Cook's explorations in the historical context. For lighter reading, I guess that Richard Hough's book is easier to read, but if you want the whole story, this is the book to read.

This is a tome which occassionally tells you just a little more than you really want to know about the three great voyages to the Pacific, but anyone seriously interested in the western penetration into the Pacific will want to read this book. It is also an articulate and formidable defense of Cook's character, seamanship, and wisdom. While Cook is not quite so venerable now in a time of great sensitivity to the depradations western invasion inflicted on indiginous people, this book presents us with an undoubtedly great man interested not in conquest but in geography, exploration, discovery, science, anthropology and peaceful relations between cultures. The aftermath was a tragedy, (see Alan Moorehead's The Fatal Impact) but Cook was simply too high-minded and short-sighted to forsee what would come after. Cook was for better and worse a man of his time--and it was an age of enlightenment--an exemplar of the period of science, exploration and adventure. He was of course a cold fish and hard to cosy to, but there is much to admire in this brilliant portrait of the man and his age.

New Zealand historian J. C. Beaglehole was perhaps the 20th century's foremost authority on European exploration in the Pacific. The main results of his long and distinguished career were "Exploration of the Pacific" and "Life of Captain James Cook". In preparation for writing the Life, he produced the definitive modern editions of the Journals of Captain Cook (4 volumes) and the Endeavour Journals of Jospeh Banks (2 volumes).
An understanding of Cook and the voyages must begin with Beaglehole.

There is no doubt that this is the definitive biography of the renowned Captain Cook. For no other reason, persons with an interest in the greatest navigator of all time should read this work. While few details of his life outside of his three major expeditions have been retained, this book brings to life the Captain that sailed the world on his three voyages, including his personality, his foibles, his leadership, and his intellect. He was indeed a man with many admirable qualities.

So why only three stars? While the book is well researched and well organized, it is not well written. Far too often, a jumble of words is presented as a substitute for a sentence. If Beaglehole could write clearly, this would certainly be a 5 star work. On the other hand, sadly enough, a clear writing style has not always been the hallmark of a professional historian.

While Turnbull usually tells about historical persons and events - this time he wanders off into fiction...

About half of the book is rather good, telling the reader about the real ninjas of past - i.e. normal samurai and peasants working as spies and undercover agents (without special equipment or silly black uniforms)...
...while the other half of the book is about the fictional black clad super martial artists (i.e. the Hollywood and Japanese Iga/Koga-province tourist version).

Those of you who can think for themselves probably understands how silly the whole concept with special "Ninja-swords" etc. is, considering they were supposed to act undercover...

To make one thing perfectly clear: Ninjas (as we know them) are a myth, no such individuals ever existed. They were made up in the last hundred years, to give samurai (in movies and TV-series) suitable adversaries.

Later on people understood that there were money to be made on the Ninjas - Martial art systems were invented (mixing existing traditions) and movie companies in the west started to use Ninjas as Bad (and sometimes Good) Guys. The Swedish Film "The Ninja Mission" being the first to place Ninjas in a modern setting.

I do understand, and even respect, that mr Turnbull sacrifices truth in order to sell more of this book (as I understand him reusing Samurai material in dozens of similar books - I have atleast ten...).

In short, despite this book mixing fact and fiction it is a good book on the subject.

most books from the Osprey Publishing to well to educate thoroughly on a matter in history, this one was no different.

This is a fascinating and easy-to-read book about the ninja and shinobi of Japanese history. And it should be noted I say "history" for a reason; Stephen Turnbull explains in the introduction that he took great lengths to make sure his sources were accurate and that he stayed away from the legends of myths accompanied with ninja. He'll mention ninja kites, but not ninja glides...and forget about the human bomb ninjas you saw in the kung fu movie "Duel to the Death."

The book presents diagrams and detailed explanations of the different equipments and tactics used by ninja, and also gives some insight into their history, including their war with Oda Nobunaga and their eventual service with the Tokugawa Shogunate (there is a very interesting reason as to why they joined the Tokugawa so willingly). The most fascinating part was the tale of how a ninja killed Uesugi Kenshin - this was by sticking a spear into him while hidden in the toilet (I won't go into graphic detail). It's a strange (and darkly humorous) tale, but Turnbull eventually dismisses it as legend using evidence that Kenshin died of stomach cancer.

Overall I enjoyed this read. It was a very educated look into the world of ninja from a neutral perspective, but I found it to be a good read. Another fine reason why my respect for the Osprey series remains high.

Military historian Steven Turnbull does an excellent job of portraying historical ninjas in this thin volume. A lot of the book on ninjas cover either ninja legends or "ninjitsu" which is a kind of reconstructed martial art which is practiced mainly by American ninja fans and Japanese who are working at ninja theme parks. Turnbull strips all this away and shows us what an authentic ninja was like. The real ninja was a mercenary who specialized in espionage, sabotage, and assassination. The image of a black-clad ninja is perhaps inaccurate. The point of espionage is not to get noticed, so ninja were more likely to be dressed as everyday people in order to infiltrate towns and castles. There are, however, lots of illustrations and photos of black-clad ninjas. Perhaps undercover ninjas are not so interesting to look at. The time period covered is 1460-1650 which was the golden age of ninjas, and which roughly corresponds to the Sengoku (Warring States) period of Japanese history. After this time period, Japan was in a state of peaceful unification and isolation which rendered the ninjas obsolete.

One great point of this book is that it introduces the excellent ninja museum in Iga-Ueno in Mie prefecture. I've visited this museum and they have a ninja house and a wonderful collection of fascinating ninja tools. The highlight of visiting the museum is the excellent ninja show. If you visit the Osaka or Kyoto area, and you have an extra free day, I recommend that ninja fans visit this place and check it out.

I love this book! It strips away all the mythology and stuff we think is true because its in the movies and examines the historical shinobi ('ninja'), his role, training, tactics, motives, and his equipment. I cannot believe how many tools they had for getting into castles and killing their victims. One of the last sections of the book, 'Ninja in War' tells the heroic story of real life ninja and their involvement in the campaigns of the Sengoku Jidai Period. Interestingly, the author says that the ninja often disguised themselves as monks or enemy samurai, yet of the 48 ninja depicted in action in the plates, all but two are clad in the classic black ninja garb. The plates are also very good, and the plate commentary has helped me in my study of the ninjas' tools. The best book I have read on the subject, highly recommended for anyone seeking to read about the real ninja.

This book successfully conveys the excitement of discovering music, films and pop icons for the first time in your teens. Recalls the dreams of your teens, when you thought you could be anything in life. I love, love, love this book.

Set in Melbourne, Australia, this new novels spins on the axis of an oft-told story about a friendship between a small group of girls falling apart. But the edges -- and edginess -- of the story kick back any cliché. Gem, Mira, and Lo set themselves apart from others by their dress, their interests, but mostly their commitment to the Ug project. Ug is short for underground, and their holiday project is to create an underground film, similar to Warhol's sixties cinema experiments. While hipsters in their own right, the girls look to the past for cultural clues. There's a lot going on here: subplots about Gem's family, her crush, her desire to lose her virginity, as well as the story of the Ug project. Yet, another core story anchors it all: the teen search for identity. Gem's not sure who she is, pretty sure who she doesn't want to be, and through friends, family, and fringe culture, tries to find her true self in a very strange time.

Notes from the Teenage Underground by Simmone Howell shows life through the eyes of a young Australian filmmaker. The more Gem works on her film, the more she learns about her friends -- and about herself.

The book focuses on the personal side of the filmmaking process rather than the technical side. This is about the girl, not the brand of camera she uses. There's something utterly delightful about Gem's take on things - fairly straightforward, totally accepting, and extremely thoughtful.

This book is realistic and comfortable without ever feeling dated or overwrought. It would have felt contemporary ten or fifteen years ago, and it probably will still feel comfortable five or ten years from now.

The author summed up the book perfectly: "Notes is a YA book about underground films, outsider girls, dodgy boys, art happenings and friendship freakouts."

NOTES FROM THE TEENAGE UNDERGROUND is a fantastic debut novel! It starts out with three best friends, Gem, Lo, and Mira, trying to come up with ideas for their summer project. The summer before was their Satan Summer; they dabbled in all things occult. The summer project has a theme, goals, and guides. This year, they want to do something spectacular; it could be their last summer project--who knows what the future will bring?

Lo is usually the one with ideas, but this time, Gem has some ideas of her own. Their theme for the year is Underground, whatever that means. Ug for short. Their guide? This is where Gem is inspired. She sees some of his work--four films of kissing couples playing over and over--at the National Gallery, and she decides, with a bit of help from her artsy mother, Bev, that Andy Warhol should be their guide into the world of the Underground (which at first kept making me think of riding the subway a lot...). She does some research into Andy Warhol, his work, his life, and the people around him, and then comes up with a goal: to make an Underground film.

During the course of this project, Gem realizes a lot of things about her life and her relationships. She feels like her friendship with Lo and Mira is an isosceles triangle; the two of them are close together, and Gem is all alone at one end. She's also being pressured to make some decisions about her future, as all seventeen-year-olds are. Her mother and Sharon, school counselor and Gem's godmother, want her to go to University, but Gem's a lot more interested in film school. Speaking of her love of movies, she's starting to think she could love something else at Video City, where she works--her coworker, Dodgy. On top of all of this, Gem's father, Rolf, has always been out of the picture, just sending the occasional weird haiku from where he lives out in the wilderness--but now it looks as though he could be stepping back into Gem's life, at least for awhile.

This summer is a turning point in Gem's life. When it's all over, Gem will be different. Her life will be different. This much is pretty obvious. But how will things change?

I really, really loved this book. It was a lot of fun to read, and the idea of the summer project was very interesting, something that set this book apart from a ton of others. Almost all young adult literature is about things changing, as that's what's always going on for teenagers, but Simmone Howell's novel had something that makes it stand out in my mind! If it's got Andy Warhol and obscure movies in it, it's got to be different.

Gem is a wonderful character. I really felt, while reading this, as if I knew her. She's very interesting, and what goes on in her mind is fascinating. I couldn't put this book down! I woke up at one in the morning, for some reason anxious to finish this book. That almost never happens to me! As I'm writing this, it's a little bit difficult to explain what about this book is so amazing, but there's something. It really captures the teenage experience. Simmone Howell obviously remembers this time in her life very well! I'm going to have to revise my `Best of 2006' list to add this one! This is a must read!

Reviewed by: Jocelyn Pearce

Seventeen-year-old movie buff Germaine Greer (aka Gem) might not have been named after a Shakespeare-loving feminist if both her parents had been around. Gem has never seen her father, Rolf, because he has been absent her whole life. But luckily, she's close enough with her mother Bev that they could be considered friends. Having never really been what she would label "popular," Gem feels even luckier to have two girls like Lo and Mira as her closest friends.

The narrator describes the three-girl plot this way: each girl is seeking something...one gets lucky, one ends up where she started, and the other gets lost. As in the past, they decide they need a theme for the year --- some way for them to do whatever they want and not have to apologize. The art and film fanatic that she is, Gem comes up with an idea involving Andy Warhol and his Factory of Superstars and planning an art Happening so Underground it'll blow everyone's minds.

1 word --- 3 syllables --- Underground --- Ug.

At first Lo and Mira can't grasp the artistic genius of her plan, offering their own suggestions of Art Terror and the likes. But finally they come around and decide to shoot a film called The F-Word and throw The New Year's Happening of all time --- The Exploding Plastic Inevitable. They'll be surrounded by art and possibility.

Gem is forced to ask Roger "Dodgy" Brick, one of her co-workers at Videocity, to let her borrow a video camera. If the dictionary had a word for someone you're attracted to and repelled by at the same time, it would have Dodgy's picture next to it --- 100% barcode guy. But she falls for him anyway, mostly because she wants to experience the same carnal knowledge that Lo and Mira claim to have known.

Gem's great art gurus say that the way art mirrors life, it doesn't need a point. Bev says that life is not about the end...it's about the journey. Others say to devote yourself to something impossible, to give it your whole self and everything will turn out just fine. Gem thinks she sees all that and more, wanting her film to show the powerful links between all the formidable women of history. The only problem is that Gem doesn't know how to do this. So when things with Lo and Mira and The Happening fall to pieces, she feels caught somewhere between damaged and anomaly.

"What was our story? Were we just beginning, or were we experimental? Who was directing us?"

Mix these questions together with the I Ching and hexagrams, a dashboard Elvis, tongue piercings, Fu-Manchu mustaches, Monet's Waterlilies, Guatemalan worry dolls, The Curse of the Ugly, man teachers nicknamed "Boobs," party streaking and Fyodor Dostoyevsky's NOTES FROM UNDERGROUND. Then grab some popcorn and enjoy this camera's-eye view of these teenagers up-close, all poise and control. At first. Keep the camera focused on them long enough, though, and their real selves emerge --- the uncertainty on their faces, their lives of quiet desperation, the unquenchable longing for something to Happen. That's where the good stuff is.

--- Reviewed by Jonathan Stephens

Review first published at Teenreads, 2007.

I agree with Dressage Wanabe. This book is good, but not for very young readers. When Dusty's father begins to become an alcoholic and there are some scenes that I would rather not relive, they would signify that this book shouldn't be read by younger readers. Personally, if I had known one of those parts was in there, I would have skipped over it.

And yes, the beginning was a little slow. However, I liked this book. After a prolonged drought, Dusty and her family are in the pits of financial trouble. When Dusty begins competing on the Snow Pony, however, income begins to come back into the family account. Dusty's best friend Sally goes off to boarding school and they begin to slowly seperate, like two friends just drifting away. As things become worse in Dusty's life, including school, financial problems, her father drinking alcohol, ect., Dusty finds that her consolation is in a beautiful mare that only she can ride. Together, the two battle through tough times and end up overcoming one of the biggest challenges of them all.

I think this a good book. I gave it only four stars for some of the mature content, but besides that, mature readers should be able to enjoy this book. Especially if they like horses or reading about family difficulties. Or both!

A wonderfully written story for anyone who loves horses. My daughter and I read this book together. We had to look up some of the Australian slang words and some of the "scenes" were a bit mature for a pre-teen (family strife involving an alcoholic dad and sexual fondling of a young girl). We picked this book up after reading Alison Lester's other horse book, The Quicksand Pony, which was also very enjoyable - and more appropriate for a younger reader. Although we both enjoyed The Snow Pony, I would recommend it only for the more mature reader.

I thought the book was excellent, I could not put it down! There was an exciting part in every section of the book, I could not believe what happened in the middle of the book. The beginning of the book was kind of slow, but it will pick up, trust me. Anyways, about the book, there is a girl named Dusty, she has a brother, a dad, and a mom. Dusty's mom is in show jumping, she trains horses to show jump at their house. Her dad, Jack is a hard worker on their farm. Dusty, her dad, and her little brother go up to the cabin and see a beautiful horse and her mate. Dusty and her father watched them run in the snow, that's how dusty got the perfect horse. Dusty's mother trained the snow pony to jump and she could jump like no other horses in the world could. Well that's all that I'm going to say. Anyone who likes horses this is the book for you. Have fun reading, I'm sure you won't put this thrilling book down.

I gotta tell you Dusty is an interesting charcter. She's alot like her father but is much stronger than him in ways of the heart and helps comfort her whole family during the tough times that come in the book while being a teenage girl. She is really inspiring how she never gives up on the snow pony and I must tell you if you want a heartwarming story but one where bonds are constantly being pushed then you'll love this book, you have my word on it.

I loved the book it had a few boring bits but it was still exciting.Its a fantastic book and probaly my favourite!!!!!