New Zealand Books

I have to say that I was surpised how much I liked this book. It kept me hooked and I couldn't wait to find out how it all turned out. I think it's a relevant narrative on the role "stuff" (i.e. material possesions) has in our lives. It's got great characters and is a really interesting story.
(Sorry, I'm not going to deliver a page-long essay - you'll have to read it yourself!)

The story is set in the late 1800's. Joseph Blackstone flees England with his new wife Harriet and his aging Mother in tow. He was looking to start a new life in New Zealand and flee from a darkness that clouds his conscience and existence. On the other hand, Harriet was restless and was sick of her humdrum life as a governess -

"weary of owning nothing and going nowhere and spending her days by other people's meager fires. He wooed her with dreams of escape. She sat on the heart rug with her head on his knee and he described to her the paradise he would create on the other side of the world. It was his words which made her cling to him when he touched her."

Joseph buys uncultivated land in rugged New Zealand and constructs a humble home out of cob (lumps of clay and dirt) with his remaining capital. They intend to raise livestock and crops however Joseph happens to find gold in a creek running through his property - and begins to pan on the sly - not sharing his secret with his wife and Mother. Joseph and Harriet drift apart - what little drifting there was to be from a marriage that was hastily arranged - with love not being at the core of the union.

Joseph eventually finds little Colour on his property and decides to abandon his mother and wife to join the gold rush. The story moves on to depict the struggles of Joseph finding gold - circumstances leading to Harriet to travel to join Joseph and the gold rush and engaging story developments that pull you along to the finish.

Author's imagery throughout the novel is spectacular:

"But Joseph understood that the men of a gold rush were like moths, going towards a golden light, and in time - inevitably - that light began to die, and so they hurried blindly on to the next and the next, always hopeful, but always aware of the enormity of the pursuing dark."

The main characters' introspection is woven through a terrific story:

"Harriet preferred not to think about Joseph. She discovered that almost every memory she had of him produced in her a feeling of disquiet. Though she had to work harder, she found life much easier without him."

The book is alive - you smell the smells, you feel the emotions, your skin tingles with the heat and cold, your body aches with the hardships. Tremain is a master storyteller who puts you on-site as the story unfolds and she takes you along the journey with the principal characters. Great story...

An historical novel set in New Zealand, there is much here that lays to rest the romance of the pioneer life. The famous beauty of New Zealand of today is intimidating and dangerous in Tremain's vivid descriptions. The people are largely tough, hardened types but are believable and they "grow" on you.

I consider this a very rewarding read and recommend the book.

If stories were meals, this would be a roast dinner with steamed treacle pudding for afters! "The Colour" is a filling read.

Tremain has delivered a story with a stunning landscape - New Zealand in the gold rush - a strong, believable female main character, and a story arc that keeps you reading to the bitter, sad, yet liberating end.

Someone told me that a good book teaches you something concrete about life you didn't know when you read the spine. Tremain has taught me about the sharpness of grass, the fickle quality of gold and how to keep a cow warm.

Priceless.

Bunny

In THE COLOUR Rose Tremain creates a wonderful insightful portrait of individuals drawn into the lure of the New Zealand gold rush in the mid-19th century. Newlyweds Joseph and Harriet Blackstone immigrate to the south island of New Zealand with Joseph's mother Lillian in order to begin a new life on a farm in the untamed countryside. As the Blackstone family settles down to their new life it soon becomes apparent that Joseph and Harriet's marriage is not based on any deep sense of love or devotion. In fact, they are becoming increasingly emotionally distant from each other each day. In addition each is fleeing from a disturbed past in Norfolk, England. After their first year in their new homestead their lives are forever changed when one day Joseph spots a glimpse of the colour, a New Zealand euphemism for the glimmer of gold, in their creek. Keeping is discovery a secret from his wife and mother Joseph soon abandons his dreams of farming and joins the thrust of the gold rush occurring throughout the country in his dreams of striking rich and securing a better life. After he leaves his farm and heads to the west coast Harriet is not far behind with her own agenda.

This book is filled with wonderful images of the hard painstaking life of establishing a farm in the midst of the untamed New Zealand countryside. I felt sympathy for their ever-increasing struggles to remain on their farm. The descriptions of the harsh winters made me appreciate my warm apartment. One of the most interesting parts of this book dealt specifically with the gold rush. I was entranced by the descriptions of men buying mining licenses and claiming a spot of land in order to pan for gold while living in squalor - all the while clinging to the dream of striking rich and cashing in their fortunes. Also intriguing was the varied individuals who developed a business to accommodate the miners such as selling food, lodging, and sometimes their bodies. But despite my enjoyment of this section of this book, I was dismayed by the inclusion of the Maori woman and her connection with the little boy Edwin. Tremain appeared to feel a need to include a Maori storyline but it felt too forced for my own tastes. Furthermore, I felt the story of Pare didn't coincide well with the other storylines and her relationship with Edwin was eerie and unsettling. Regardless, THE COLOUR is a book that quickly grabs your attention and had me guessing the ending until the last couple of pages. I will definitely now read more books from Rose Tremain.

I teach AP high school US History and I just got my masters degree in history, and this is a great source for both people who know a lot (a disappearing breed) and almost nothing about the Wobblies. It's appropriate that on the 100th anniversary of its founding, the Wobblies, an organization that used visual communication so brilliantly to recruit and communicate with its members (because so many of its membership did not speak English), would get a book like this published written both by leading labor historians and cartoonists in the relatively recent graphic novel movement. The history is solid, the drawings are great, and it successfully tells a compelling story to a broad audience. I wish I had written this book.

The history uses many cartoonists, many cartoon styles. Text outside the cartoons is minimized. Footnotes are light. But compelling reading as an introduction to the Wobblies, from their beginnings to this 2005 publication. A lot of information despite (or maybe because of) the cartoon format.

These are not neutral presentations. You may wonder whether our government and corporations really mistreated workers in this way. That many jailed, that many killed? This is within the past 100 years. If we're not careful, whatever progress workers have made since the Wobblies began may be lost.

Read this great intro and get charged up. Then, by all means, seek out other sources to check what you've been told here. Section six of this book, "IWW Lives", alerts us that, although smaller than in the past, the IWW is active. Seek them out on the Web: you too can be a wobbly.

This book has everything: words, pictures, history, exciting stories, and disaffected workers. There are almost as many different artists as stories, so it's easy to look at each episode with fresh eyes.

The IWW may have been small, but they were also hugely important, and there are more scholarly ways to learn about them, but there can't be any that are more fun than this.

This is one of the most enjoyable books on the hidden and suppressed labor history of American workers. Made all the more enjoyable by the variety of people's artists/cartoonists that have contributed to what is surely a labor of love. This is not what you're going to be taught in schools or colleges. This book portrays clearly that long memorable struggle for dignity among the working class that continues to the present day.
The Wobblies held to a grass roots approach of organizing workers, prefering "crude vigor to polished banality", a system of priorites too little seen in these waning days of capitalism. Each young person, parent and school should have this information available to them, for any soul not born with a silver spoon wedged in their mouth will come away from this history with a lump in your throat and a new spring in your step. In light of encroaching globalism (that is no friend to worker's anywhere) this is a handbook to inspire and encourage a new generation to take control of their own destiny.
Solidarity Forever!
P.S.- Check out the recordings of Utah Phillips, the modern troubadour/sage of the Wobblies.

As a historian of the IWW, I bought this title hoping for something new and insightful. While the presentation is new, it really suggests what Henry Adams referred to as the devolution of America. The real IWW did some interesting things with the graphic arts -- none of which are cited or displayed by the author. While portrayed as a serious history, this is truly a comic book posing as history. I would not buy it again/

I have an 8 year-old 3rd grader and this dictionary is perfect for helping her with her reading and with her homework. Much less intimidating than an adult dictionary.

This is a table book for my daughter. She loves to find an answer to any question. It is very clear to understean the description, photos and pictures are colorful and help to understand the word. I would recommend it to any one.

This dictonary is very useful for the teachers-in-service training in the
graduage school of education, and trainees to be teachers of English. If CD is included it will be much more useful for teachers of Englsih as a foreign language. The illustrations and reference are also of great use.
I usually give a copy to each student I teach as a gift.

Easy to find the distinct 26 letters for the purpose of looking up a word.

We needed a dictionary for our child to use in grade school, something easier to read than the college-level books we had on hand, but more sophisticated than the typical baby-book, beginner dictionaries out there. This book met our expectations, and exceeded them. (Note, I'm reviewing the 2007 edition. Some of the reviews here go back years!)

Another reviewer has aptly noted the book's appropriateness for Grades 2 through 4, which sounds about right, for a starting point at least. I wouldn't think it useful (as a reference book) before that age, due to the reading level of the book's explanations. Most kids before that age just won't be able to read it.

I'm sure many kids will like the pictures at earlier ages. Even a good reader may ask for help now and then. But if the parent is doing *all* the reading, the book loses some of its value as a reference source that the child can learn to use independently.

Independent research is one of the skills that many schools are trying to teach to this age range in literacy classes, which is why they assign kids to look up words on their own -- and why this book is so valuable to have at home. With 35,000 entries, it takes on many words that deal with complex ideas -- but it does a pretty good of translating those complexities into terms that kids can comprehend.

When necessary, it does this by using pictures, and to great effect. For example, the word "contrast" is not only explained in text, but is also illustrated by showing a Great Dane next to a Chihuahua, with an explanatory caption. The numerous illustrations in this book are used for many purposes, and they are very well-done.

For clarity, the editors do not include the complex etymologies that an adult volume might offer for every single word. However, in some cases when a word has a particularly interesting or instructive derivation, there might be a small text box on the page to discuss the word's history.

Thus the book does what a dictionary should do: go beyond mere definitions and offer an insight into the ways words and language evolve. However, in such cases where there is an explanatory box like that, it is separated from the word's main dictionary entry. Thus, the reader is not forced to read the history just to get the definition. One is free to go as deeply as one wants, which I think is a brilliant design.

An inquisitive child will probably find this book to be a treasure trove, worth poring over for its own sake -- not just as a tool for homework. Other kids, who may not be interested in all the illustrations and expanded explanations, will still find it to be, at its core, a really good dictionary. So I think it easy to recommend for any parents, or any kids, in grade school.

I feel certain that older kids would still find this book to be interesting and helpful, well beyond grade 4. At some point, school demands may require more sophisticated definitions, and other things that this volume does not include. At that point the child may require another type of book, but I'd think they'd still be referring to this one on occasion, into middle school at least.

It's worth buying at its list price, and it's an absolutely great deal at the discounted price I got mine at. Highly recommended!

Loved this book! I had read it many moons ago and then lent it to someone and not got it back. Glad I found it again. I guess it is true what they say about the politics of lending good books. only an idiot lends out a good book - and that it takes an even bigger idiot to return a good book.

I find books about aliens and people in small towns pretty interesting. This story was not that good though. The main character is supposed to be a sweet, innocent, small town girl who you just never fall in love with. Her character isn't developed in a realistic way. As a matter of fact most of the town folks aren't real. This wouldn't be such a problem had the novel not been rounded enough to even keep you interested. The only reason I finished the book was to find out if there were really aliens or not. The alien story line was the only part of the novel that kept me interested. A disappointing read.

Feisty, unapologetic 16 year old Delia from a small New Zealand town claims she was taken up briefly in a space ship after she is found wandering in a daze by the town's newly arrived librarian. The plot unfolds as the effects Delia's ensuing pregnancy and subsequent events have on unlayering facets of the different townspeople's characters. It's a whodunit device that masterfully engages the reader. At the end, though we do get to see some resolution in Delia's character, the last chapter smacks of dragging everyone back on stage one last time to make sure all the loose ends get tied up somehow, if not neatly. I disliked the ending pace in comparison to the rest of the tantalizing, almost meandering course of character and event development. Still, probably the most entertaining and plausible story of alien intervention written. Definitely worth reading!

First, let me say I am fourteen and had NO trouble reading and understanding this book. Okay, now, what made me get this book from the library was the cover. A nice bright green with a picture of a cow on the front. It stood out from all the other boring covered ones. From the cover alone you can tell this is going to be a good WITTY book. Witty is definitely the best word to describe it. I loved the plot: a 16 year old girl claims to see spacemen and claims to be having their baby. Theres some twists and turns, surprizes and things you can foretell, but one thing I must, not complain, but comment about, is the ending. I think the ending where everything comes into perspective was crammed into a certain amount of pages. Everything came together so quickly. It would have been better if everything had unravelled not slowly - but not as fast.

All in all this was a great book. A good way to spend a leisurely weekend. Definitely some good laughs and things to tell your friends about. x0x

The ending was a bit... hasty. That's where the last half star went. It all made sense and the loose ends were tied up, but it seems like McCarten only had a certain number of pages to work in and was starting to run out at the end so he hurried up and finished it off. But other than that, it was a great book. The writing was witty, something that I truly admire in a book. It's hard to be witty all the time, but it comes through in the whole book. The first paragraph sucked me in and I was committed to the last, and I laughed the whole way through. Well, that's not entirely true. I was sucked in before the first paragraph--the cover of this book alone was enough for me to buy it. It's a lime green book with a cow on the cover. And it's about a girl who saw aliens! Cool! And it was.

I really enjoyed the way McCarten captured the gossip mill of the small town atmosphere. It really complimented and fueled the story--it was really the aspect that made the whole thing work. It was a good book. I definitely recommend this book--especially to those who like sharp, witty writing.

If you are even just thinking about building a sailboat in the traditional frame and planking method than this is the book for you. Every step of constructing the hull and deck is detailed with excellent photos and very descriptive text.

I enjoy reading what the Pardey's write and this is no exception - lots to glean from this book! Great book to fire up the potential / beginner boatbuilder's imagination and desire!

With this book in addition to Chapelle's and Stewart's books, I am beginning to grasp round bottom traditional wood construction.

Its a great book if your want to build wooden boats in the most traditional way or with an archaic manner. Most wooden boat builders today can cut time by using modern equipment and techniques which is not described in this book. Its a good reference book and it includes a topic on the author's experience using modern epoxies and it contains Herreshoff rules/guidelines which every classic boatbuilder enthusiast might find informative. It will also describe you the events that you will go through if you're building a cruising boat. This book is not for the beginner for the terminology used will confuse them. In my opinion, if you would want to build a classic wooden boat I suggest you go through a weekend workshop (for the curious) or an apprenticeship (for a career) then buy this book to supplement what you've learned. Like the author said, "There is no such thing as a comprehensive book on any type of boat building." Your best chance to build your own dream boat is to get out there, learn from others, and supplement what you've learned with this book!

I have read at least 5 (maybe more) books on home boat building. Where this book does a superior job is in its prolific use of photographs to demonstrate the steps discussed in the text. Pardey's is a good book but a bit on the "HARD CORE" side. For instance how many "one-off" builders are going to go to the trouble of forging our own magnesium alloy floor brackets? If you are serious about building your own boat I'd still recommend reading this book but it should not be the first you read. In my opinion, Pardey's book is not intended for the rank armature. In fact you have to be fairly familiar with, carpentry, boats, and boat building terminology in order to follow the book at all. I still encountered JARGON that was unfamiliar to me. If I were the editor of this book I'd recommend a comprehensive GLOSSARY OF TERMS be added at the end of the book. That one addition would greatly increase the utility of this book.

I've enjoyed this author's other books in this series, but this left a lot of things unfinished or sewn up with very little mention of how.

Cody's feelings against having a baby were talked about once and than they ended up with a baby.

Olivia goes from wanting no one to hooking up with Merris on the second date.

I don't even know what Dr. Howick and Riley were even doing in this story. There was barely any subplot on them especially the Dr.

Disappointed in this one....need more drama between the characters.

In this outing, the third in Moon Island series, a new set of visitors descend on Moon Island. They include Olivia, a country & western songwriter; Trudy, whose father wants to turn Moon Island into a resort for funeral goers; Chris, a lawyer; Glenn, an anthropologist who wants to study the sacred rites of the local women; Melanie, Annabel's dying cousin; and Merris, a tech executive.

This book is not as intense as others in the series. Yes, there is drama, but it does not come from the relationships between the women. There is an undercurrent of preachiness in this book because one of the themes of this outing is religion.

There is a religious rite that involves the local goddess worshippers, who never invite outsiders to witness the ritual, the island's visitors who for reasons unexplained are invited to the ritual, and a dolphin. There is an element of disbelief to this entire section of the book, interesting and creative, but nevertheless unbelievable.

Finally, the author left a few loose ends some of which were tidied up in an epilogue. The entire drama of Melanie's death and the subsequent adoption of Briar was skimmed over particularly the drama of Annabel ignoring Cody's feelings on the subject.

Even with the detractions listed above, this remains an interesting series, but I wish the author would return to what she does best - relationships between the women of Moon Island.

This book in the series has multiple plots going on relative to several relationships: Cody & Annabel, Glenn & Riley, Olivia & Merris, and finally Chris and Melanie.

This covers the full cycle of live from giving birth to dying and how each member of the cast plays their parts.

Can't wait for the next one.

I have enjoyed this series of books written by Jennifer Fulton. She can make a nice gay loive story a page turner'

I have so enjoyed this series, I look forward to the next, and the next....
Interesting plot, interesting characters, all realistic to me, and I've read a lot of fiction. It stands out because of the setting, the 'love' that emerges, and of course the hotter moments, which are also fairly true to form, and not overly glamorized as in so many lesbian books. I enjoy the series, this one was very excellent. Take a chance!

THE SEQUEL TO THE POTATO FACTORY. REALISTIC LIFE STRUGGLES AGAINST PREJUDICE AND THE WILL AND TENACITY TO OVERCOME. COURTENAY IS ALWAYS INSPIRING.

Bryce Courtenay has been on my list of favorite authors since I read "The Power of One." He does not disappoint in "Tommo and Hawk."

The story of twin boys in Australia, this book enthralls with rich characters and a setting that draws the reader into the early days of European settlement of Australia and New Zealand. The story is filled with historical information, but it is the character development of the twins, their mother, and Maggie Pye that impels the reader through "just one more chapter."

Though not as optomistic in tone or outcome as "The Power of One," "Tommo and Hawk" is even more fascinating. The twins, opposites in every respect except their love for each other, survive misadventures and struggle through until an inevitable, but sorrow-filled ending.

Captivating reading -- five stars!

Tommo & Hawk continues the story started in the Potato Factory. It further adds to the contention that Bryce Courtenay is the best storyteller since Hemmingway. His depiction of 19th century Tasmania is a triumph. Not only can you feel and almost smell what the characters are experiencing, but his tale is gripping. Whereas The Power of One and Tandia were more on the high brow end of the moral spectrum, the Potato Factory and this novel dig a little deeper into the underbelly of the British Empire. The result is a grittier, more visceral read, that is difficult to put down.

I have only read The Potato Factory and this book by BC, and really enjoyed them both. I have to say I found this book to be a bit better than The Potato Factory, mainly because of the humor that is injected. I love how God gets involved in conversations with either Tommo or Hawk - they made me laugh!

I also really appreciated the detail which was put into different stories, for example the whale hunting story and the opium situation. I found the detail of the times and the issues of the times to be fascinating, and while I realize it is a 'story', I also believe that a lot of the subjects discussed are actual portrayals of situations that happened during that era (mid 1800's).

I highly recommend this book, but only after you have read The Potato Factory, because Ikey is referred to a lot (as are other situations), and to truly appreciate this book, it will help to have read the prequel.

Cheers.

Courtenay has written a book steeped in the richness of early Australian History. Still I found this book rather disappointing. I am not much into violence and I found that whilst historically correct (assumption) many of the scenes were too long and graphic for my liking. It is very readable on it's own - I have yet to read the prequel to this book. The book dipicts in detail the quality of characters and hardships of early Australia in a pleasing and vivid way.

Where We Once Belonged by Sia Figiel is a novel set in Samoa, a novel that won the Commonwealth Writers Prize. At one level it is a simple story of one girl's journey through childhood and adolescence. Alofa tells us about her school life, her church, her favourite television programmes, and her family. She tells us of local practices, customs and mores. She describes what she eats and how it is cooked. She details her relationships with her friends, parents and teachers. And in this way she builds for us a picture and sensation of growing up in Samoa.

Alofa is quite a late developer. Long after her friends have succumbed to the moon sickness, she has not begun to menstruate. It troubles her. She worries that she is not like other people, that she might be destined for a life that is different from theirs.

But she discovers what all adolescents discover, and delights in telling the minute detail of every encounter. There are older men, younger men, and girls, mothers and boys. She has her share of experiences and learns that sometimes people are not what they seem.

Through Where We Once Belonged the reader thus experiences Samoan life, how it once was, and how it is changing. It is not a rich life, for sure, but the poverty, both material and personal, never grinds down either the community or the individual. Like everywhere else in human existence, some can cope with apparent ease, whilst others find the process of life more taxing.

The true beauty of Sia Figiel's novel, however, is that it provides a foil to external, Western interpretations of Samoan life. Mention of this contrast with 'official' views of the culture come late in the book, because the perspective is consistently that of the young girl narrator. In some ways this is unfortunate, since the book has real direction once this is understood. Until then, a casual reader may not develop this informative and rewarding overview.

An uncommitted reader might also find the book a difficult read. There is extensive use of Samoan words, whole sentences in places. Though there is a glossary, it is far from complete. There is a temptation not to refer to it and thus to gloss over some of the detail, and it is in this detail that the book's real richness lies. Eventually, it is a rewarding read, in its particularistic, individual way.

The story as vignettes was effective and it helped the reader understand the nuances of a culture so different from that of the U.S. and especially as world changes effects the culture, from the viewpoint of a girl becoming a woman, but showing the experiences of men too. I would have liked the glossary to be a bit more extensive, but you could guess reasonably the meaning of words not defined by the context.

This book really let me into the life of the character. It is undeniably realistic. As a student, I am planning on studying in Samoa for a semsester and this book did a great job with portraying yet another perspective on the Samoan way of life. And the perspective of a teenage girl going through adolescent confusion is always fascinating!

Excellent book-a must read and an outstanding book for university class romms. Ms. Figiel, while touching artfully on the specifics of Samoan life, has illuminated the Human Condition with warmth and clarity.

An outstanding treatment of women, class, sexuality and ethinicity. The book is a delight to read--an amazing lyric voice for such a young writer--and a book to be shared.

All I knew about Samoa before reading Sia Figiel's novel, Where We Once Belonged was:
1) Margaret Mead made her career writing about Samoan women, and
2) Samoan men are highly recruited as linemen for college football teams.
Rectifying that ignorance of my fellow Asian/Pacific Islanders was my initial impetus for picking up the novel, but it was Figiel's stunning storytelling and humor which carried me through to the end. The rewards of Where We Once Belonged is not only a sophisticated product of the storyteller's art, but also the honest and touching portrayal of a time and culture few of us know.

From the opening sentence, "When I saw the insides of a woman's vagina for the first time I was not alone," Where We Once Belonged plunges the reader honestly and unapologetically into an adolescent girl's world of guilt, desire, cultural confusion, and budding sexuality. Carried forward in a series of linked reflections and scenes, the novel is "told" to the reader through a variety of sophisticated narrative techniques including the informal "talk story," the traditional Samoan storytelling form of su'ifefiloi and more elegiac poetic reflections on the landscape of Samoa. The playfulness of the narrative underscores Figiel's somewhat darker concerns about the difficulties faced by young women growing up in Samoa. The strong pull of the church and its mores is juxtaposed alongside the images of women offered by up Hollywood, specifically, Charlie's Angels, after whom our narrator, Alofa also known as Jill, and her friends, Lili/Kelly and Moa/Sabrina, pattern themselves after. Gender roles are discussed, explored, witnessed and even rebelled against with often violent consequences. Wives are disposed at the whim of their husband, unmarried young women are banished for their "impure" pregnancies, and even Alofa is the victim of beatings and abuse that are given as "lessons" by her partriarchal community.

And yet in the midst of these brutal events, Figiel manages to combine humor into her narrative, as in the story of Elisa, who "remained pure, until her first check-up at the hospital when a metal instrument injured her hymen...All these years and she was saving it for a piece of metal." The richness of Samoa comes alive through Figiel's liberal use of Samoan creole and her amazing ability to describe a scene not only through sight but smell as well. She describes the central marketplace through its activity and through the smells of the different tobaccos smoked by the different types of people, The pervasive juxtaposition of native Samoan and western culture plays out in the food section where fish wrapped in taro leaves competes with imported animals like lamb and turkey.

Where We Once Belonged satisfies on many different levels: It can be read as an adolescent girl's "coming of age" story, an intimate portrait of Samoa, or even a sociological examination of the lingering effects of colonization and pervasive cultural hegemony of Hollywood. But Figiel, the product of a rich storytelling culture, weaves each of these threads into a richly patterned tale, leading us to an unforgettable ending and leaving an indelible experience of Samoa in our memories.

"Let the Sea Make a Noise" forges historical scholarship with insightful notions about the realms encompassing the north Pacific Ocean. The author, Walter A. McDougall, spent untold hours researching and organizing minutia then interweaving vast history replete with sensory details; human and political failings, dreams, and successes; meteorological and geographic facts; and overlooked, obscure bits of history.

Consequently, the book itself is somewhat overwhelming for it is nearly impossible to absorb this level of detail or maintain a clear understanding of the myriad relationships and ideologies the author presents.

I suppose having too much detail is better than not enough in any book of this sort, and Mr. McDougall is never shy about throwing in what may be a touch of conjecture. One cannot really know what some of the many people profiled here might have been thinking, but ultimately the scope of the book prevails, and one must admire the tenacity and effort funneled in to this book.

Be prepared to invest some time reading this history but be forewarned that you may have to put the book down from time to time to let the facts and information swamp you like a big wave---and I found I wasn't always that eager to jump back in for more.

Walter McDougall has insightfully woven the history of the interactions of the nations surrounding the North Pacific in a manner that addresses the national interests of each and their attempts to protect those interests which unfortunately often created havoc. A splendid tapestry of successes and failures in statecraft. The author has done so in lively language as opposed to the usual dry presentation so often employed by academics. This work is entertaining and informative for everyone not just those with an interest in history and politics.

This is a terrific book. It is the history of the Pacific Ocean for the past 400 years. It is surprising what that involves because so many nations from all around the world made strenuous efforts to control, colonize, and conquer so many places along its continental coasts and its many islands. It also involves many different indigenous cultures and a hugely changing political scene.

One of the reasons I love the book is Walter McDougall's lively and engaging writing style. This is a book of solid scholarship, but it is full of art as well. One of the problems facing anyone who would write such a history is how to tell it in a coherent way. McDougall came up with a brilliant literary solution. He has the author dream the key characters in periodic conversations about the events under consideration with the Hawiian Kaahumanu as the central and governing center of the wheel. Reading this book was a real pleasure for me. I read a lot and widely, and this book was a special pleasure.

It begins in 1565 with early European exploration of the Pacific and ends just after the Second World War and ends with a bunch of questions, ponderables, the author calls them, about the 1990s. Some of them seem to have been acted on, but many issues continue to this day and some new ones could be added to the list. Along the way there is the settling of Alaska, of Russian ambition, of Japans rise from its isolation to become a military empire, of China, of Spain, of the rise of America and Canada. It is a story of commerce, religion, culture, and of great violence. Hugely dramatic and very informative.

I know it will seem unlike any other history you have ever read. And that is only one of its many virtues.

The best books are those so rich in character and content that you can revisit them time and again, certain that you will discover new layers of enjoyment and insight with each reading. Walter A. McDougall's "Let the Sea Make a Noise... : A History of the North Pacific from Magellan to MacArthur" is just such a book. How fortunate we are that Perennial has newly released this volume in paperback!

McDougall takes the reader on a glorious (though sometimes harrowing) journey through time. He has succeeded in combining painstaking research and carefully considered commentary with a wonderfully woven and witty narrative. This gripping tale of the North Pacific is a genuine page-turner: a rare treat on the menu of today's history books!

Contrary to the lone opinion of a Washington State Amazon reader, rest assured that "Let the Sea Make a Noise..." is a balanced and scholarly presentation of the complexities of international relations. Written in the early 1990s (when Japan's economic prominence in the midst of Soviet collapse was the source of widespread international concern), McDougall's insights in "Let the Sea Make a Noise..." are often profoundly visionary and always poignant and honest. He has done an outstanding job of crafting an entertaining, yet intricate examination of the motivating forces that have shaped a wondrous region of our planet.

Once you have enjoyed this book, be sure to seek out McDougall's just-published "Freedom Just Around the Corner: A New American History: 1585-1828".

This is one of those books that a) read really racist only a few years after they're written, and b)are really off when it comes to speculating about the future.

For example: this book rah-rah's the United States, glossing over ther racism experienced by Japanese, Chinese, and of course, the Hawaiians. The fact that Hawaiians got screwed out of most of their country, is ignored, as is the massive genocide of Californian Native Americans.

What's most striking to me, though, is the utter lack of vision- McDougall utterly doesn't anticipate the rapid rise of China, (who "always slays itself") nor the torpor of present day Japan.

McDougall's also quite ignorant about how things haven't really changed in Japan (the power centers are still pretty much what they were during the war, only now, they're just not militarisitc.)

NZ is relatively decent. Before anyone posts any "oh, isn't NZ awful" stories I would ask them to tell me what country doesn't have similar, if not worse, stories. If you want to compare NZ to your imaginary ideal that is fine but please stop confusing your fantasy with reality. Good lord whatever problems NZ has, and it has its share, it doesn't have armed federal agents attacking church groups and burning them to death, it doesn't have Janet Reno, it doesn't have all the problems we have in South Africa.

Wake up where the sun first greets the world each day... Where there's room to roam... Clean air to breathe... Where there are no capital gains taxes... a booming economy... and some of the best real estate and investment opportunities you'll find anywhere.

The world is getting smaller -- and New Zealand's profit potential is getting bigger.

The prospects for steady appreciation of land and investment values in New Zealand are excellent. However, it's very possible prices could rise much more sharply in a very short period of time. Here's a major reason why...

Aerospace technology is making the trip to New Zealand quicker and cheaper. Boeing 767s cost 50% less to operate than 727s. The new 777s are more efficient still. By the end of this decade, jet technology could cut travel time from California to New Zealand by as much as half -- from 11 hours to 5-1/2 hours!

Should that happen, property prices could double virtually overnight... and, over the longer run, multiply perhaps 10, 20 times or more, just as in Hawaii and California.

In the meantime, you can enjoy a bit of heaven on Earth with peaceful surroundings, friendly people, and great business and investment opportunities.

Exports are booming. With a cheaper currency, exports have grown at a 30% annual rate! However, that's not the whole story! Stronger commodity prices have helped. Remember New Zealand exports commodities like lumber, meat, dairy, wool, etc.

Business and consumer confidence is on the mend! Last year, consumer sentiment was at an all time low, which had more to do with the dissatisfaction the general population had with the newly elected Labor Government's policies than any dissatisfaction with the economic environment, but things are looking brighter on the political front these days.

Employment also chimes in as a contributing factor. The current unemployment rate stands at a 12-year low of 5.6% and the good news is that the trend upward in job postings is being driven by sectors outside agriculture and manufacturing.

So now may be the best time to read Adam Starchild's book and follow his advice, rather than waiting around to watch the economic meltdown in North America. NZ is a great place to set up your own Internet business!

New Zealand has always been a natural wonder. Sired by volcanoes in the middle of an emerald sea, the land is a mixture of pastures, jagged mountains, white beaches, and tropical forests. Economically, the country is no less a marvel. It's an excellent example of how free markets create prosperity.

In 1984, New Zealand voters booted a left-leaning government and brought in a free-market-oriented government. Immediately, finance minister Sir Roger Douglas began to implement some of the most important reforms in any country of the 20th century.

Sir Douglas floated the currency, revoked all farm subsidies, abolished all import tariffs, privatized 60% of state-owned companies, fired 55% of the government workforce, placed the central bank chairman on a performance contract, revoked capital gains and inheritance taxes, and refused to print money to save reckless banks and inefficient companies from bankruptcy.

The results have been astounding. New Zealand now has one of the lowest inflation rates in the world (1.3%), seven consecutive years of budget surpluses, 6.4% unemployment (down from 12%), and a resilient, entrepreneurial economy that soared 5.8% last year.

It's the kind of country, in other words, where you can build a second home to enjoy the good life -- and end up making a fortune almost by accident as the value of the property you buy rises amidst a booming economy.