Oceania Books

Fast-moving and fascinating account of Captain Cook's three around-the-world voyages, culminating in his death at the hands of Hawaiian peoples who apparently mistook him for a god based on his ill-timed arrival and departure schedule.

The concept of leaving on just one 3-year trip in uncharted lands so far from home and family and communication with them seems even more astounding and heroic today in the age of always available, always on communication. Of course, Cook and his crew weren't always heroes, displaying at times the reflexive racism and cultural arrogance of the age of Empire that spawned the exploration in the first place. However, it is interesting to watch Cook's attitudes change and mature during the voyages.

You may want to cross-reference to Tony Horwitz' Blue Latitudes: Boldly Going Where Captain Cook Has Gone Before which I also reviewed. Horwitz applies his witty and accessible style to a popular cultural, anthropological, historical, and gastronomical view of Cook's travel stops and his impact on them.

This book covered Cook's 3 voyages into the Pacific. Cook's drive to explore new lands and interact with the people that he met along the way was fascinating. This book did not try to judge the actions of Cook and his crew, but rather chronicled the good and the bad, describing the various attitudes of several of the crew members as taken from their diaries and accounts of the voyages.

This is an anthropologically informed history of James Cook's three voyages to the Pacific. If you are looking for a biography of James Cook, a general history of Cook's voyages, or a maritime history, this book is not for you.

The anthropological approach seems perfectly suited to these voyages since they included a number of first contacts between Polynesian and European civilization. In some cases, especially in his discussion of the artwork and the scientific approaches of 18th century Europeans in confronting Polynesia, Thomas is engaging. However.....

As some other reviewers have noted, there is an air of anachronistic academic disdain that permeates the narrative and distracts the reader from engaging the subject. I'm not quite sure what Thomas's point is in much of the contempt he has for his subject. For example, he will deride Cook et al. for misinterpreting a certain aspect of Polynesian society, and tisk at the ignorance and cultural insensitivity that supposedly malinformed this misinterpretation. After all this, you'd think he'd supply better interpretations, right? Well, sometimes yes, with all the arrogance that 250 years of hindsight will buck you up with. Yet strangely, quite a bit of this book is devoted to his own guesses and speculating about Polynesian society. Perhaps these guesses are informed by that 250 extra years of scholarship, but they are often poorly argued and unconvincing.

Read a more standard history of Cook before you read this, and then be prepared to wade through quite a bit of the ideological sludge that sullies some interesting material.

Fewer things are better than a good sea story dealing with unexplored regions of the world. Captain James Cook's British Naval expeditions in the late 1700's were some of the last expeditions to the unexplored parts of the world. For introducing the subject and telling a good story, Thomas does an excellent job of introducing the reader to the inherent problems in leading a naval and scientific expedition and first contact with Pacific Islanders.

In many ways, today's outer space missions are less complicated than Cook's expeditions.

The anthropology sections of this book are the weakest sections, but there are simply few ways to understand the native Pacific islanders of Hawaii and Polynesia and the Maori peoples of New Zealand and Aborigines of Australia.

Cook's legacy is somewhat mixed in the Pacific basin, though to his credit, he handled first contact issues as well as he probably could. His death that resulted from an altercation with some Hawaiian tribe members was a bit of a tragedy, for few of his generation had as much patience in dealing with the inherent issues of Western and native interaction.

For the reader wanting a solid introduction to one of history's greatest explorers and one of the greatest sea stories, this is a worthwhile book.

Before reading this book, most of what I knew about Captain Cook was from high school (not much) and from a vacation or two in Hawaii complete with visits to historic sites. I saw it at the library and checked it out because I am enrolled in a "Pacific Islanders in the U.S." course at my local junior college, and because I'm planning another vacation in Hawaii and want to feel more grounded in the history of the place while I'm there.
I thought the book was great. It really cut through a lot of the mythology that surrounds what most of us are taught about Cook, to the real person, with failings as well as strengths. What I loved was I felt I got both perspectives, Cook's as well as the point of view of the People he encountered on the islands. One thing I got from the book is that Cook missed a lot. His journal records his perspective, but as well-meaning as it might be, that perspective was narrow and often limited by his own background. The island kingdoms he encountered, in Tonga, Hawaii and others were politically complex, and socially and culturally rich. Power plays were being made, not only by Cook, but by the People on the beach. I thought the presentation was balanced, and fascinating, and I am grateful for having read a book that allows me to think about this moment in history, and the islands themselves, in a broader way.

I found this to be an excellent book in which the author, Kira Salak, retraces the journey across Papua New Guinea that explorer Ivan Champion took in 1927.
This book provides amazing descriptions of Papua New Guinea. It takes you to all parts of PNG, from the cities to the inner jungles, and introduces you to the PNG native tribes and their spiritual and religious beliefs. Salak also meets with the rebel leader of a guerrilla movement fighting in Western New Guinea through a series of adventures that are reminiscent of a scene in a James Bond movie. Throughout the book, Salak discovers ways out of nearly impossible situations.
What makes the book so readable and interesting is the vivid and powerful narrative that describes the journey from Salak's own perspective. This allows us to easily join Salak in this incredible trek across PNG as we read her story.
The book begins with the events in the author's life that led to her taking this journey. Without this introduction, I think I would have spent the entire book wondering what would lead a person to take such a journey. I consider this introduction an essential part of the book, giving a unique insight into what leads someone to take a dangerous journey into the unknown.
In this book you will find a rare glimpse into the hidden world of PNG as Salak works out her demons through this difficult journey. This makes for a book that cannot be put down. "Four Corners" is an inspiring real life journey into the unknown, and a story of survival and personal triumph. I highly recommend this book.

I have read both of Kira Salak's books and thoroughly enjoyed them. I am hoping she will write another one soon. Four Corners was great and I was able to compare much of my trip to hers (although mine was not quite as adventurous). I don't feel she spoke too much on the dangers of PNG, as one reviewer wrote. The dangers are very real and different than other countries. I also enjoyed the excerpt on her travels through Mozambique included in this book. She has a gift for writing. Hurry up Ms. Salak and write another book soon!

This book was fabulous. It kept me riveted from page one. What Ms. Salak accomplished in New Guinea (with her intelligence, guts, wit, courage and luck) is truly amazing. Hands down the best book I read all year. A true travel adventure.

The book is full of personel feelings. I read travel journals and that is what I am looking for. If I want a guide I buy a guide. I admire writers who leave the reader with an understanding of who they are as well as where they are. Ms. Salek does a fine job doing just that.

WOW! This book blew me away, and like the title of my review states, there were several times throughout where my heart was literally pounding. Any writer who can transport a reader like that knows how to write. This book is definitely among my "Top 5" favorite travel narratives.

Some reviewers suggest that there was too much inner reflection on the part of the author regarding why she was in PNG and what she was trying to reveal about herself. While this was definitely a thread running through this book, I do not believe that it takes away from the overall "picture" in any way. Any traveler who embarks on a similar trip and who doesn't reflect on why they're doing it has simply been on vacation. Those that do choose to reflect have been on a journey.

If you are a seasoned traveler to PNG, like one reviewer annoyingly overstates, why would you want to read a travel narrative by someone else about the same place? Being there is always better and I make it a point to not read books about places that I have already visited extensively. What would be the point? So, if you've spent a good deal of time in PNG you probably will not get much from this book. If not, then I highly recommend it! * Side-note: Just because you've been to a place does not neccessarily make you qualified to review a book that takes place there.

While I agree that some of the situations that Ms. Salak gets herself into do seem very dangerous she herself is honest about the immensity of these situations and does not try to down-play them in any way. Lucky for readers because this makes the book that much better. The suggestion by one reviewer that Ms. Salak in not respectful of PNG and the people that she meets there is unfounded and I do not recall anything in the book indicating that this was the case. This book is not a "PNG how-to" and the suggestion that the author's journey is irresponsible (and even unbelievable) is ridiculous, she is simply telling her story and it is fabulous! If you are looking for something to help you travel in PNG then pick up the Lonely Planet guide. If you're looking for a great adventure story that takes place in PNG then this is the book for you.

I have resisted reading Ms. Salak's second book, "The Cruelest Journey" for some time now because I will then have nothing of hers left to read and that's a depressing thought! I eagerly await more work from this author!!

I must preface this review with the statement that Dr. Pratzellis is one of my instructors, although not for theory. (I have him for methods and he refuses to use his own texts as he considers it hubris to assign one's own writing for a course) He is an excellent instructor.

I picked up this book as an adjunct to the assigned main theory books, Anthropology as Cultural Critique: An Experimental Moment in the Human Sciences and Anthropological Theory: An Introductory History, and found it a lighthearted (at times) and enjoyable read that, as others have already mentioned, lets your mind absorb the theories while letting you read a rather far-fetched mystery tale. I found it helped clarify some slipperier points of certain theories and gave me some insight into the possible practical applications of theory in practice. The drawings alone are worth seeing!

While this is not "great literature" and Adrian at the outset makes absolutely no pretense that it is, it is worth reading. It is also a prequel to the methods novel Dug to Death: A Tale of Archaeological Method and Mayhem (another amusing read)

There are very few archaeological textbooks for which the phrase "cute and fluffy" is applicable, but this is the exception. A mutant hybrid of fiction and theoretical discourse (which isn't necessarily a bad thing), 'Death by Theory' is a fun and enlightening adventure into the world of archaeological theory that can be comfortably read in one sitting.
One could perhaps criticize a rather clumsy and obvious approach to the fictional narrative, but this stylistic approach serves to highlight the fact that many of the characters are archetypal representatives of various theoretical perspectives: intentional caricatures handled with both a certain amount of humor and a lot of affection.
This book is a wonderful supplement to the more orthodox texts on the subject, and could be read hand-in-hand with more lengthy (but equally engaging) works such as Archaeological Theory by Matthew Johnson.

A number of people recommended this book to me, since I am primarily an historian, and I really needed something that could explain archaeological theory to me in a way that made sense to my non-analytical brain. This book does exactly that, in the form of a tongue-in-cheek mystery set at a dig on an island in the Pacific NW.

While I was glad for the lessons in theory, this book also held a few disappointments. The prose style is mediocre, for one. Mr Praetzellis writes like he's got a synonym dictionary open in front of him, and he's damned if he'll use the same word twice, or use a person's name when he can describe them in some other way. I found this and the constant shifts in perspective really irritating. I also did not find any of his characters interesting or engaging, and most were downright annoying. However, I will admit that I have met incarnations of most of these people in the field, so I guess I can't fault him that much. So far as the story goes, considering it was meant to be a mystery, there were few surprises. The clues are laid on pretty heavily, and I'd worked out what was going on by about halfway through. I had hoped that the theory would be more cleverly worked into the story, rather than just having the characters explaining it to one another, but you can't have everything.

All that being said, I will probably hang onto it and read it again from time to time, just to make sure the slippery theories are firmly wedged into my brain.

The author does an excellent job of easing the reader into such arcane topics as diffusionism and the post-modern non-method along with standard archaeological history and current cultural/ethical issues. And he does it with a funny and engaging storyline. I definitely recommend this book for enthusiasts and old pros alike. Can't wait to read the next one.

Basic archaeology theory in a kind of illustrated novel. I enjoyed it a lot.

A Russian, a Norwegian and an Irishman went through a gate to another world.


Sound like a good joke? No, just an old fashioned fantasy adventure involving Russians being bad, Norwegian guys having serious Viking tendencies once they get someone that smashing people is useful, and lots of scantily clad priestesses and their underlings, both good and bad.

If you have read the Ship Of Ishtar then you'll know what to expect, here.

A fair bit of flowery fantasy leading up to a battle and transport.

It is the turn of the twentieth century and science promises to explain many of the wonders of the world. Walter T. Goodwin is an eminent scientist who has just finished a field study of the flora of the volcanic islands of the South Pacific. At Port Moresby, in Papua New Guinea, he boards a ship headed for Melbourne, in Australia. From there he intends to travel further to his home in New York. Having boarded the ship he finds to his surprise that his old friend Dr. David Throckmartin is also a passenger. But Throckmartin seems strangely distant and changed. His face wears an expression of both extreme ecstasy and horror weirdly co-existing. Throckmartin tells Goodwin that he has discovered the ruins of an extremely ancient city on an island of the coast of Papua. In these ruins he discovered a strange door, which led to an underground pool. From this pool, during the rising of the full moon, an apparently supernatural creature emerges. This creature steals away people, turning them into zombie like creatures who then disappear underground never to be seen again. Throckmartin's wife Edith has been taken as well as two other members of the scientific party. Throckmatin, however, has a plan to travel to Melbourne, collect some necessary scientific equipment and return to the 'moon pool' to rescue his wife. All this of course seems too much to believe, but then the 'creature', the "Dweller", arrives and steals away Throckmartin before Goodwin's very eyes. Goodwin decides the only thing he can do is to try to compete Throckmartin's rescue plan.

Just about everything in this story is given a 'scientific' explanation by Goodwin, the die-hard-rationalist narrator of the tale. The story is thus technically science fiction, however, these 'explanations', at least to the modern reader's mind, seem so thin that the tale in fact has the feel of fantasy. Merritt seems particularly taken with the then new field of nuclear physics and this gives the story interesting depth. Merritt is aware of the possibility of nuclear science promising great benefit, but also great harm. The luminous "Dweller" is thus a predecessor of Godzilla, the radioactive movie monster that destroyed Tokyo, though Merritt, of course, wrote well before the bombs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were dropped.

Of course this book, like all others, takes its place in the history of literature and owes some of its details to earlier novels. The phosphorescent walls of an underground kingdom is highly reminiscent of Jules Verne's A Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864). The discovery of a lost civilization which is ruled by a totally amoral, iron willed woman is straight from Rider Haggard's She (Oxford World's Classics) (1887).

I must warn that this is not an easy book to read because of the complex writing style. Merritt uses long and winding sentences that are difficult to keep track of. I found myself sometimes going back and rereading what I had just read to understand it. Also Merritt at times uses a super-profusion of adjectives, most of which are little used in common language. I at first ran to the dictionary, but soon gave up, letting the worlds roll over me in a strange, hypnotic, half-understood, poetic spell that added to the weird atmosphere of the book.

I don't mean to be overcritical of the book. is in fact a rip-roaring read full of high adventure. Merritt certainly manages to keep you turning the pages. The ending is great, keeping you on the edge to the last page. No anticlimaxes here.

A loose association of adventurers penetrates the lost kingdom that lies far beneath a South Pacific island, where opposing religious factions teeter on the brink of war and a being of living light threatens to conquer the surface world.

Abraham Merritt's verbose and adjective-heavy prose varies in its effectiveness. At times, he does such a good job of describing settings that they appear effortlessly in the mind's eye. This is particularly true of the first part of the novel, which is set on and around the island of Ponape. On the other hand, once our heroes descend into the bowels of the earth, things become rather murky. Even after paragraph after paragraph devoted to depictions of his otherworldly settings, I was more often than not mystified as to their physical layouts and it made some of the action confusing.

The pacing is problematic as well. The first part of the novel is riveting and mysterious, so much so that I thought this would be a 5-star book. The story slowed down considerably once the action moved underground, with those confusing descriptions and too much uninteresting characterization. I was particularly annoyed by the character of Larry O'Keefe, a stalwart pilot whose superstitious Irish nature is way overblown. However, things pick up considerably at the end, with an exciting, apocalyptic climax that features some extraordinary imagery.

One of the most popular science-fiction writers in the early 1900s, Merritt had the reputation of the Lord of Fantasy. "The Moon Pool" evidences the "baroque complexities that Merritt introduced into his fairly standard plots through his use of elaborately contrived creatures, technologies, and settings," as the editor Levy remarks in his Introduction. The Dweller reawakened on the island of Ponape where an ancient civilization once existed by a Dr. David Throckmartin and his group of scientist explorers is a vampire seeking new souls to devour. Merritt's fantasy about the Manichean struggle between good and evil is colored by his interest in the mystic Madame Blavatsky. Looked on unfavorably by some leading critics of the time, Merritt never gained much notice outside of the field of science fiction. For later generations, his ornate style limited his appeal. But he holds considerable historical interest in this genre of popular literature for opening it up to diverse elements such as developments in the sciences of physics and biology, figures from folk literature, literary references of all types (e. g., Celtic literature), and philosophical and religious ideas and themes like Blavatsky's mysticism which were all a part of his eclectic erudition. One sees such effects not only in today's fantasy literature, but also the popular fantasy movies.

This is a fascinating novel. Merritt has a gift for setting. You actually feel like you are in a South Pacific ocean, or standing in front of the moon pool. This book grabs you and suck you into the setting. You have the feeling of gloom and wonder as you enter the Moon Pool for yourself.

However, Merritt's gift for setting is also the books main drawback. His prose gets wordy and adjective-heavy to the point of being absolutely unreadable. I kept rung back to Strunk and White: "Omit needless words," "Be clear," "Write with nouns and verbs, not with adjectives and adverbs. The adjective hasn't been built that can pull a weak or inaccurate noun out of a tight place," and "Avoid the use of qualifiers."

I cant tell you how many times I read "coruscations," a word that refers to metallic sparkles and glitters. It is also the noun form of "Coruscant," of George Lucas fame.

It is an obscure word, but it blunts the prose's effectiveness and story-flow if you have to stop reading and get a dictionary to figure out what's going on.

Once again, Strunk and White:

"Avoid fancy words. Avoid the elaborate, the pretentious, the coy, and the cute. Do not be tempted by a twenty-dollar word when there is a ten-center handy, ready and able. Anglo-Saxon is a livelier tongue than Latin, so use Anglo Saxon words."

Amen!

*

Aside from being thoroughly unreadable, this novel fascinates me. The setting is supernal, and I felt something move in the dept of my soul as I read it. To be sure, it is pure pulp, but pulp is just a corruption of true myth. It seemed to be a return to the underwater cave of Grendel's mother in "Beowulf."

Pits strike fear in the core of our being. That is why Luca uses them so much in his films for the death of villain. This same archetype works in this novel. Once you get past the awkward prose, you find a very interesting story.

I hope someday they adapt this to film.

It's a good book for english speaking person, because the phrases are written how a Swed would have said it. Now, if a swedish person are reading it, it all looks all messed up, but it looks very logic for en English speaking person.

IT'S GOT ALL THE THINGS YOU NEED TO SAY OR UNDERSTAND ON YOUR TRIP, THE PICTURES AND THE LAYOUT AND THE PAGES ARE VERY NICE, I RECOMMEND IT!

It is a really useful book for people with no time to learn swedish using the long way. Practical words, phrases, idioms, and expresions. If you only want to communicate accurate in many situations without any idea what the swedish is, This is the right book, the cassete is very interactive. Don't forget you Swedish dicctionary Berlitz also, is really good despite its size. Both, are easy to carry on with you all time.

I have used the very fine Pimsleur course for another language (Hebrew) but, in looking for a course that costs a fraction of the Pimsleur price, I struck gold with the Berlitz Basic Spanish. There are 24 lessons, each about 7 minutes long. The lessons are divided into scenes on three audio tapes. The lessons are taught entirely in Spanish. It is amazing how well this works by putting the conversation in context and by using a guidebook. By going through each lesson several times and doing the exercises in the book, you learn Spanish in an easy and enjoyable manner, Having used Pimsleur, I believe that dollar for dollar, the Berlitz method compares well. You can't go wrong with either {Pimsleur or Berlitz) but, for less than 30 bucks, your money is very well spent with the Berlitz basic Spanish. The big difference between these two fine methods (Berlitz & Pimsleur) is the following: (1) Pimsleur has a series of 32 longer lessons in which the language is taught using both English and the language you are learning on the tape. The Pimsleur lessons are about an hour long. (2) The series of Berlitz lessons are about 8 or so minutes long and no English is spoken. The accompanying book provides English translation in marginal notes for new words that are introduced into the vocabulary. Both, programs are effective but Berlitz is a great bargain.

Swedish is a very difficult language for Americans to pronounce. It's a double tone language. In other words, you often stress more than one syllable in the same word. This sounds kinda silly to English speakers. You simply cannot look at this book (or any book) and try to speak Swedish. What is good about this book is the pronuniation guide that appears beside each word. This makes it possible that you won't sound silly every time you try to speak Swedish. Once you have been in Sweden and listened to the way they speak, you can use this book's pronunication guides and try to immitate the Swedes.

But, this book is really only for travelers, and travelers don't need to speak Swedish. Most Swedes speak English very well.

I enjoyed the book. It was well written and obviously well researched.
I like the way it had info from personal writtings from the time, also.

I enjoyed the gallery of pictures included in the text, as well.

I will probably read the book at least one more time.

to me she should never married franz joseph i,she was to much of a free spirit.austria court was to old fashion for a soul like hers.she had the mother -in law from hell didn't help.

I was dreading that this book would be like all other's in that it would portray Elizabeth as a poor little spoiled, mis-understood rich girl. It didn't and I found that very refreshing.
My only critism of this book is that there is only one occasion when the author translated the french, german, russian, etc. quotes that were used and I found that mildly annoying as I don't speak or read any of those languages.
Overall a very good book!

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I was somewhat reluctant to first start reading The Lonely Empress because, from the some of the biographies I've read (but certainly not all!), they tend to start out interesting but then become dull and boring. It usually takes a talented author to write a biography on a boring royal. But even an unskilled author would have no trouble about sounding fascinating if their subject matter was Elisabeth of Austria.

Born a mere daughter of a duke in Bavaria, Elisabeth had a fairytale (ish) romance. The emperor of Austria, Francis Joseph, was already engaged to Elisabeth's sister Helen when he fell in love with her. All of a sudden, to everyone's surprise, the Emperor started to rant about the grace and beauty of this younger sister, much to the dismay of his mother, the archduchess Sophie, who thought that Helen would become the perfect empress.

Elisabeth was still a child when she became engaged to the Emperor. Suddenly, she wasn't allowed to run wild, like she had been when she was younger. Elisabeth had been known to skip her lessons and go out riding for hours. She inherited her father's peculiarity and was known to be her happiest when surrounded by less than royal people. Her father, Duke Max, was renowned for his strangeness. He was known to travel the Bavarian countryside to escape his duties and delighted in circuses. The poor Duchess Ludovica, Elisabeth's mother, must have had a terrible time with her daughter and equally childish husband. Because of her strangeness and wild country ways, the Viennese court look down upon Elisabeth.

What makes this book more interesting is how the author has portrayed Elisabeth. She doesn't try to make her into a selfish, spoiled woman yet she doesn't spend the whole book describing her flawless beauty. Elisabeth seems to be a difficult topic to write about. As many people who have met the Empress say about her throughout the book, "She could be quite charming when she wanted to be. Yet she could also become cold and haughty."

Elisabeth has you admiring her at times, like when she tries to help the Hungarian people regain their Constitution, and at other times hating her, the way she treated her husband and children, the woman whose husband spent fortunes building her three homes around Europe and who still wasn't grateful or satisfied. This woman traveled to countries far away so she could escape her duties as an Empress and her husband.

But one feels for Elisabeth at how much misfortune she had dealt with in her life. She seems to be a caged bird, she seems to have those natures that cannot be trapped or caged. She needed wide spaces so she can spread her wings. The author portrayed Elisabeth excellently and made the book an enjoyable read.

I really enjoyed this book, there was only a minor matter which rather annoyed me. I wonder why nobody seems to have taken the trouble of checking the proper spelling of all those European names?
As a native speaker of both German and Hungarian, I was quite
distracted by reading Gödollo instead of Gödöllõ, to name just one of many blunders.
Crenneville sometimes becomes Grenneville, Marie Vetsera turns into a Mary, Maria Theresia is always Maria Theresa, robbed of an i, the Ballhausplatz is shortened into Ballplatz, and while Hapsburg is not exactly wrong, it was apparently never used officially - and you don't often come across it even in Austria.
Perhaps in future editions someone might provide corrections? I think the book is worth it.

this is the most useful and necessary guidebook not only for indonesia but for any destination you may have!

This is a good book, but an updated edition is supposed to come out December 2006 so wait until then if you want this book.

This is currently the best overall guide to Indonesia for independent travellers. It covers enough attractions to keep people occupied for months, and is more than enough for those with an average interest in the country.
As usual with this series, it is strong on practical details like prices, public transport and city maps, though one should never forget that prices in particular will have changed by the time one gets there - this 7th edition was researched in 2002, and reflects the situation as it was then.
There is also more than enough background information about culture and history for most readers.
Note however that coverage of remoter, less-visited regions is poorer - the chapter on Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo) is nearly useless, and the one on Papua (Indonesian New Guinea) is little better.
Those with a deeper interest in Indonesia, or with an interest in a particular region, might want more detailed guides to those areas - Lonely Planet has great guides to Java and Nusa Tenggara, while Periplus has eight separate ones to all parts of the country, though the Periplus ones are best backed up with this book for practical details.

This book is great for giving you ideas as to which places to visit. But seeing now that it's 3 years out of date it has a lot of errors. I just used it in august of 2003 and all the prices are way off. Expect to pay about 2-3 times (sometimes 5-6 times) what the guide says because Indonesia's economy has picked up since the book has been released. For example: Borobudur is listed as 10,000Rp (~$1.80CDN) for entrance in the guidebook, now it's 58,000Rp (~$10CDN). They should be putting out a new one soon so if you can, wait for the next one to come out.

This is a good guidebook and fairly accurate. In a country like Indonesia, however, things change quickly so use this book as a reference not as a bible. Do you own research and talk to other travellers. Since LP Indo is the default travellers' guide to this region, most of the restaurants and hotels are not the best values. Many get a steady stream of customers just because of a good review and never bother to maintain the facilities. The best deals require a lot of footwork and bargaining! Also, bus/boat schedules always change. So don't plan a rigid itinerary based on the data in this book. I know a couple that lost a week because they planned a trip around a ferry described in this book but didn't actually exist! Be prepared to wait if you're going off the beaten path. Some boat services are infrequent between the islands.

Learning some bahasa indonesia always helps bargaining. The language section is adequate but the phrasebook is much better.

A "magically idiosyncratic collage of history, biography and travel writing" (The Times), Blackburn's book touched me very deeply. Her portrayal of Napoleon, one of the mightiest and most famous men of history, as a fat, pale, short middle-aged man condemned to live out his life in loneliness, boredom, absurdity, and despair (and great physical pain in the end) makes for compelling reading. However, other portions of the book were to me equally touching: the story of Fernando Lopez, a Portugese nobleman condemned to torture and disfigurement, and finally self-imposed exile on the island for a treasonous crime, who (with the help of gifts) transformed St. Helena into an oasis of extraordinary lushness and beauty; the savaging and disfigurement of the island in later ages; the quietly awful decline that holds sway over it today. Blackburn weaves personal childhood and travel anecdotes into her story, lending it a further poignancy and immediacy. Beautifully done!

I have dined off his fine china and watched him play with the children of his initial host on the island. I have been transported through time and space, a reaction I have had only rarely. Ms. Blackburn has created a reality worthy of attention. The aura of the house, the luminosity of Napoleon's complexion and the thinking of his English overseers are only a part of that reality. The prose is clear and compelling. The past, the natural history of St. Helena and Ms. Blackburn's present day doings complement one another. On the map, St. Helena is as much "in the middle of nowhere" as any place on earth. And Ms. Blackburn makes going there an enlightening journey.

I read with fascination the details on Napoleon's last exile. But the historical erros threw me off. He arrived on St. Helena in 1815, not 1814. His birthday was August 15th, not August 17th. His second wife's name was Marie Louise, not Marie Teresa. With all these easily confirmed facts in error, I wonder what else is inaccurate.

This book is not easy to classify � part biography, part memoir, part essay. After Napoleon�s final defeat at Waterloo, the British exiled him to the remote South Atlantic island of St. Helena, where he lived the few remaining years of his life. This book, written in the early 1990s, consists of the author's sensitive and insightful musings on Napoleon�s life and death on the island, the relations between him and others in that most unnatural setting and those most unnatural circumstances, the history of St. Helena, the world of Napoleonic studies, the author's visit to St. Helena, and much else. The book is very elliptical and personal, and is perhaps best described as an extended meditation by Blackburne on life and human relationships as displayed in these events. Hard-core Napoleon fans and others looking for a straightforward narrative are likely to be disappointed (though I suspect that more insight into Napoleon's character can be gleaned from this book than from any more prosaic narrative). The book will appeal to readers who enjoy an intimate conversation with a thoughtful woman who, taking as her point of departure the unique and timeless spectacle at the core of the book, has much to say about all of us.

I was really disappointed in this book. What the author did not understand, and probably never will, is that the readers are not the least interested in her life or the lives of her children or husband. I am not in any way interested in her own impressions about St Helena, I am not interested in the Island's history or geography or what others might have thought about it. It is Napoleon that concerns me and when I purchased the book I though it would be about Napoleon's journey to the Island and his last days there. Instead it was the author's journey to the island in the 90's and her own days , which does not interest me and I doubt if it would be interesting to anyone bet herself. It was a real disappointment.

This book has a 2006 copyright date in it so don't count on all the prices for hotels, dining, etc. to be up to date. We generally buy Frommer's books more for learning about the area and signts to see than for hotels and dining.Web sites we have researched don't contain a lot of great information as they are loaded with items to sell you. We have visited this area one other tiem and this is the place to go to relax and really take life easy. The book gives you some very good insight into the area and what to visit and where to spend you time. This book has some items and locations that appear in another Frommer book, Tahiti and French Polynesia. Areas in this book include Fiji, Tahiti, Moorea, Bora Bora, Rarotonga and Cook Islands, Samoa and the Kingdom of Tonga. Even if you are visiting only a couple of those islands you will find the book worth while.We first looked at major book stores in Dallas and locating copies of South Pacific books was next to impossible. Every store though did offer to order a copy for us. That meant paying full retail price and having to make another trip to the bookstore. You spend less time and money by ordering as we did through Amazon.

If you are looking for information to help you decide where to go in the South Pacific this is a great place to start. If you know you are going to a specific Island you may want to consider a book on just that Island but this is a great overview and a resource for travelling between the islands.

Bill Goodwin has continually updated and improved this book since the 6th and 7th editions. Why does Amazon.com retain such outdated reviews from two years ago and more? So much has been changed since the edition one of these early reviews refer to. For example Goodwin points out the best snorkeling and other outdoor activities, and tells exactly where to go to rent bicycles. Goodwin's professional advice is highly relevant to travelers of all price ranges, including backpackers (he began as one after all), and all advice is given with an eye to making the most of your money. No travel guide can possibly be up to the, minute (the time need to print the book causes this), but Goodwin provides frequent updates on his own website, [...].
This guide is entertaining as well as useful. It is indispensable for all of us who have outgrown Lonely Planet. Please remove the out of date reviews of this excellent book.

Having been a resident of French Polynesia and Tahiti for over 35 years, the author-in my opinion-has produced an accurate, objective and encompassing report and guide for the American traveling public.The subject matter to review and relay is quite extensive--and this requires a fine tuned view of each island. Although I have not visited as many islands as the writer, I find the ones I know in the edition to be correct and concise--in fact, I learned details I was not aware of.

It is important to remember this guide was presented by an American-with an American viewpoint and cultural value-for the American market.

In closing, before coming to these islands, I highly suggest you extend your credit card limits and/or bring lots of cash as most of it probably won't be returning with you. French Polynesia is expensive--yet the lagoon colors, vibrant mountains and handsome people make it a memorable experience.

It is very obvious that the author of this book has actually been to the South Pacific - he is very enthusiastic about the area - and sincerely wants his readers to love it too! We have followed the book's on two trips and have found the advise to be 100% accurate. I highly recommend this book - it can be trusted.

Sometimes I don't realize I have a pet peeve until I read a book like Kangaroo Dreaming. In this case, I can't stand Kanze's decision to repeatedly and painfully compare his trip around Australia to the Odyssey. It is something that would have been fine to use once, but even with all the adventures and difficulties that he and his wife face are nothing like what Odysseus faces in his 10 year journey form Troy to Greece. Kanze didn't seem to trust the story of his trip to see as much Australian wildlife and wilderness as possible, which at least to American and even one that spend several months in Australia is much for interesting then being retold a fairly well known Greek Myth. He also includes much Emerson, but thankfully not to the point that it becomes distracting. I also felt that compared to other travel books, I didn't get much of a sense of himself and sometimes don't get much about his wife save when they argue or chase down another bird.
Otherwise Kanze has obviously read what previous writers and explorers have written about Australia, which he includes where useful, as well as facts about the unique wildlife he and his wife encounters. So don't read it for a great travel book, read it as a piece of nature writing that happens to involve travel. I agree with other reviewers, why weren't a few photos included with this book? I would have loved even just a few to refer to as he describes a particular encounter.

For one who has not been to Australia yet, reading about this wildlife journey has been great fun. The author gives his readers a real sense of the joy of discovery and excitement of the search. Along the way, he imparts a great amount of fascinating information about the countryside and the people encountered during their travels.

I highly recommend Kanze's book for armchair travelers who have an interest in wildlife, or those who may be contemplating such an adventure for themselves. The view of Australia, its people, and its wildlife is extraordinary!

Great armchair rideabout through the land down under! Witty and intelligent, Kanze has a knack for making one feel as if he and his wife were sitting in rockers in your den telling these tales. He is able to balance intelligence and knowledge with humor and candor of his own foibles. I want to go to Australia!

I read this book just after having finished Bill Bryson's travel book on Australia, "In A Sunburned Country," and the contrast could not be more vivid. Bryson focused mainly on the cities, towns, and people of Australia, and I believe he only saw a few kangaroos in his entire sojourn there. Though he did cover some natural history, most of his work was focused on the human history and culture of Australia. Kanze on the other hand on his massive journey around Australia with his wife Debbie spent very little time in cities, trying to avoid urban areas for the most part, and saw a great deal of wildlife, including probably hundreds of kangaroos. In fact, the principal reason they flew to Australia, bought a car, and spent the better part of a year driving around the continent/country (including Tasmania) was to see a bewildering array of plants, animals, and natural landscapes in the "bush."

The author introduces the reader to a many animals, some familiar, many not. We meet a wide variety of kangaroos, including the "big four," the common wallaroo (known as the "euro" in Western Australia), the red kangaroo, the eastern grey, and the western grey, as well as the musky rat-kangaroo, most "primitive" of kangaroos, smaller than a housecat, distinct in that hops on four feet rather than two, carries nest material with its tail, and is the only kangaroo that raises two young at a time rather than the usual one . They encounter the sugar glider, a marsupial that is strikingly similar to the flying squirrel of North America, one that feeds on the excretions of sap-feeing insects and eucalyptus resin, something few marsupials can digest. A wide variety of parrots (the continent possesses fifty-six species) also amazes the Kanzes when they encountered them in virtually any setting, from rain forest to desert to the middle of large cities. They meet koalas several times, a strange animal that Kanze informs us actually for a time grew more common after English settlement, as Aborigine hunting of them declined as their own populations retreated before the Europeans, only to suffer in turn when koalas caught the fancy of London furriers. They run into the ubiquitous termite mounds of Queensland, thousands of which tower over the landscape up to eight feet in height, vital to the local ecology as they serve the function of earthworms, which are unable to survive the monsoonal inundations of the local landscape. Interestingly, we learn that at least some termite species build their mounds with their broad fronts parallel to the earth's magnetic poles, one end pointing to magnetic south, the other magnetic north, with the mounds thus situated to soak up morning and afternoon sunshine but only present a thin edge to the blistering midday sun. They meet the potentially dangerous cassowary, a huge flightless bird able to run thirty miles an hour, jump five feet into the air, and disembowel a man with the slash of a talon. Advised to hide and freeze should they encounter one in the forest, the Kanzes run into an overcurious youngster and its protective parent at one point, a situation that could have ended in disaster. Told that if one froze they might be missed, as their eyesight is poor, a comment that to me brought to mind "Jurassic Park," a thought the author apparently shared. Kanze roots around underwater with a snorkel and mask for the elusive Arafura file snake, not formerly described until 1980, a snake with unusually loose but rough skin that uses to grip slippery fish, a water snake that hunts, sleeps, breeds, and gives birth without leaving the water. Among the many other animals they meet and describe for the reader are the manatee-like dugong, honey possums (the only terrestrial mammal to subsist entirely on pollen and nectar), Tasmanian devils, the hated alien cane toad, a wide variety of native frogs, bowerbirds, bandicoots, platypuses, flying foxes, dingoes, echidnas (also know as spiny anteaters), lyrebirds, sunbirds, and a wide variety of reptiles including sea turtles, pythons, many poisonous snakes, goannas (among the largest lizards alive today, goanna being the Australian name for a monitor lizard, the name probably a corruption of "iguana"), and crocodiles (both freshwater and saltwater varieties).

I learned a lot about Australian wildlife and landscapes and some about Australian history and culture and really enjoyed the book, but do offer a few small complaints. Kanze repeatedly compares his journey throughout Australia to that of Odysseus and his trials that were described in "The Odyssey." While sometimes the comparisons were apt and even mildly humorous, sometimes they seemed a bit forced and even slightly tedious, with occasional asides into Greek mythology that seemed out of place. Second, many times Kanze mentions taking pictures of a variety of animals throughout his journey, yet there is only the cover picture; nowhere are there are photographs in the book. I would have liked to have seen a few pictures at least of landscapes.

Having said that though, this is a very good Australian travel and natural history book, one I would recommend.

Ed Kanze's Kangaroo Dreaming should provide a healthy counterbalance to "Survivor II" with its kitschy evocation of aboriginal ceremony and the Australian landscape. In the popular show, the only genuine elements were the landscape of the outback itself and the glimpses of wildlife. In Kanze's clear-eyed view of the same landscape, the aborigines, like our Native Americans, displaying the "ugly and all-too-universal result of western mercantile culture mixing with a tribal society." The aborigines encountered near Alice Springs - unsmiling, clutching whiskey bottles - provide one of the human portraits that truly makes Kanze's book stand out among travelogues of natural history. But as always, Kanze's eye for flora and fauna predominates and his descriptive powers are masterful: "Suddenly, bubbles appeared in the water before me. I cocked my camera, switched on the flash, and held my breath. There - there -there - I was struck dumb by my good fortune. A black, rubbery bill wider than a duck's pushed through the surface immediately before me. It was followed by webbed feet, a hairy face with beady black eyes, and a furry brown body about the size of a muskrat's. I fiddled with the camera. The platypus was so close that my lens could not focus." The frame of Kanze's story is a nine-month, 25,000-mile odyssey he and his wife Debbie took around the rim of, and to the center of, Australia. (In fact, the author has used the sections of The Odyssey itself to parallel their journey.) Along the way they meet friendly and helpful nature enthusiasts - as well as characters they'd as soon never see again. For those of us who will visit "the America on the other side of the world" (Melville's phrase) only via the armchair, the Kanzes make irresistible, funny and erudite traveling companions.