Oceania Books

I read these books many years ago and found them moving, perhaps 'The Sword and the Blossom' the most moving. This, the third book, attempts to understand the Japanese character as it was experienced by the POWs. It's not pretty, but it is necessary if you want to try to come to grips with quite a lot of the meanings behind the Pacific theatre of WWII.

Parkin's writing is well-balanced, as pointed out. The brutality, sadism and all the other things can't be hidden. Parkin wrestles with the complexity of the Japanese psyche in the war. The POWs are men in extreme situations. Some may not act as well as they may have liked, but Parkin doesn't judge them: who could? There are quietly heroic acts that just seem 'normal', but Parkin doesn't make a big deal about it.

What shines through is the author's humanity. In spite of the brutality, he can appreciate the people he meets, the world around him (e.g. 'the coruscating sea'), and capture it in his sketches.

The novels were first published in London in the 1960's, the author himself stating it took this long for him to take a balanced view of the things he saw as a sailor during war and as a prisoner of war under the Japanese. His hand drawn pictures in these works were made whilst in Custody under threat of execution if seized.

Before the war, PARKIN was a professional sailor, after the war he studied as a classical artist, and worked on the wharfs of Melbourne as a tally clerk.

This description meets his works, his love of the sea, his artwork throughout the works, his beautiful descriptions, and his exacting detail.

The first novel is of a shipwreck survivor, it doesn't show it, but he is the hero portrait, it is a TRUE story. The second is a diary of his captivity on the Burma railway, and the third of his captivity in Japan, including the dropping of the A-Bomb. 'He states that a newspaper dropped in by air to Japan when he was first released has three momentous events, atomic weapons, jet propulsion and ball point pens'.

His works are not bitter, if anything appreciative of having lived a life less fortunate. Very Australian in it's style and language, it is as moving as any of the recognized greats. I will not wax lyrical about its style further, the editorials above do so far more eloquently than I could.

Familiar fish and startling discoveries are met side by side in this astonishing collection. With text by the expert and photographs by the best, this hard-cover book is a must-have.

I am a saltwater aquarist that is in love with the coral reef and the ocean. I absolutely treasure this book. The detail and time spent to create this is intense. What a magnificent piece of work! Before I go to work, I poor a cup a coffee and browse through the pages a little at a time and think how much I'd rather be tracking these intresting and intrensic species that the ocean has to offer.

This book was hard to find or buy in book stores in australia. I found the seller reliable and provided the book in perfect condition and the delivery was quick.

This masterful work by Paul Carter revisits the historical assumptions about the founding of Australia. Carter rejects previous assertions (assumptions) that lay behind a form of Australian history such as the primacy of empirical "facts" and the self-evident rhetoric of cause and effects. Instead, Carter attempts to explain the imagination of a place as somewhere one could be and he illustrates the imperial qualities of this imagination (especially as it pertains to langauge and naming). Early narratives of exploration (such as Capt. James Cook) are used to explain Australian history as a project of European meaning-making and this moves away from imperial history which assert capital-T universal Truth and toward a spatial understanding of Australia as a particular space that Westerners moved through in a particularly Western way.

This book is out of print, but should be near the top of any person's list of must-reads for spatial theory. It is erudite, combining historical analysis with philosophical frameworks, but it is also extremely readable and even poetic in its language. This is only natural as Carter is also a poet. Grab a copy of this book before they all disappear and while it remains a great bargain used.

Excellent. Map has a very light water resistant coating - helpful. But most importantly, it has all the details (mtn names, river names, small towns) that some other maps lack. We drove around NZ, and even with GPS, the map was a life save.

This is a great map of New Zealand. Its unfortunate that it is becoming hard to find.

The map was printed a few years ago, so some things have changed, but for 95% of the areas you would be traveling to it is very accurate. Most of the changes are not the addition or changing of streets but rather the condition of the roads. Many roads that are said to be unsealed are now sealed, especially in the North Island.

The map is also made out of a plastic type material that is waterproof. You could dump a bucket of water on the map and it would still be fine, maybe just cleaner! Wish they made all maps out of this material.

Great map if you can find it, and its worth the hunt!

Writen by the Head of the (Royal) Naval Historical Branch, The Royal Navy and the Falklands War is quite simply the finest account of the naval war yet written. With detailed access to official documents and widely illustrated with photographs form both official and private sources, the book traces the history of the campign from the naval perspective in a day by day, blow by blow account.
The narrative is easy to follow, either as a cover to cover read or a book to dip into for specific information about key events. There is a seperate chapter dealing with ships taken up from trade, (STUFT), and appendices listing all ships from both navies that took part in the war. An excellent read and a "must have" book for the serious reader.

Writen by the Head of the (Royal) Naval Historical Branch, The Royal Navy and the Falklands War is quite simply the finest account of the naval war yet written. With detailed access to official documents and widely illustrated with photographs form both official and private sources, the book traces the history of the campign from the naval perspective in a day by day, blow by blow account.
The narrative is easy to follow, either as a cover to cover read or a book to dip into for specific information about key events. There is a seperate chapter dealing with ships taken up from trade, (STUFT), and appendices listing all ships from both navies that took part in the war. An excellent read and a "must have" book for the serious reader.

This is a Volume I of a two-volume set.

I saw this two-volume book first time in Apia, the capitol city of Samoa. It was the hard copy edition presented in a show case of the Rainforest Restaurant, whose owners were two historians working passionately on a creation of a small museum of Samoan Art and culture of Samoa. I was astonished about the amount of details in this book. The more astonished I was, as I saw how many well situated Samoans were visiting the Swiss/German couple to consult this book regarding their genealogy and heritage! This source might just as well prove predecessors in old Samoan ruling nobility or even... a divine origin!

For a contemporary reader Krämer's book might be a difficult lecture though. Krämer brings together facts and legends. Parts of the text are written in Samoan, and sometimes I could not find out any specific rule for the switching between the German and Samoan languages. Fortunately, mostly one page is in Samoan, and the opposite page is in English, like a Roseta Stone of a kind! The translator of the book, Dr. Verhaaren, remarks in his foreword that Krämer was somewhat inconsistent in his spelling of Samoan words.

In my opinion Krämer created a great documentary, but he was not a good writer. The great amount of details, which Krämer by himself often calls just a hearsay, have probably a great value for scholars or lovers of Polynesian mystique, but they might only confuse casual reader. Nevertheless he seems to be very careful about differentiation between facts and rumors.

One of the interesting aspects of this book are the details about the travels, marriages and wars between Samoans, Tongans and even the Melanesian Fijians. Many contemporary families on Samoa know through these reports that their heritage reaches hundreds of miles apart from Samoa. Samoans were splendid navigators and they undertook numerous long distance voyages. There was a good reason that Samoa earned the name "Navigator Islands" after being discovered by Europeans. Unfortunately, the contemporary Islanders lost solely their ability to navigate on the open Ocean over such distances.

The book contains a large number of beautiful photographs of Samoan people, and of the entire Samoa from the colonial period, in which Great Britain, USA and Germany were still quite friendly nations "negotiating" their spheres of influence in the Pacific. As you might know, Samoa is still a divided country and the American sponsored government in Pago Pago tries to deepen the differences between the Samoans on the neighboring Islands. They feel very cozy in their present arrangement, and so they try to prevent a reunification. It is fascinating to see in this book the Samoa as it once was, a one entity.

This book is a fascinating "must have" collectible for scholars, passionate off road travelers, and everyone else looking for island nostalgia. The publisher, Hawaii Press, made a great effort to provide splendid quality of typesetting and print.

My only regret is that we wait for so many years for a matching release of the Volume II!

The price is right. Get this book!

This is a comprehensive and interesting exposition on the history of Samoa.

It is a privilege that it is now available in English so that the information can be more widely read.

Read this to the five-year-old twice already, and expect to r3ead it lots more. The ten year old was delighted: she joined us and reread the book when we were done.

Recommended. You got to love those cows.

Those loveable Santa Cows take their human friends on a magic carpet ride to the islands! Tropical fun to keep the holiday spirit alive. You'll love the whole Santa Cow Series!

In my first visit to Sydney I covered more ground and learned more about the city than my Sydney-veteran companion had seen in numerous trips. The maps and directions were accurate, and the tidbits were a great combination of history and quirky facts and folklore.

Sydney is a beautiful city and this books gets visitors out of the usual tourist spots. Many of these sites truly are hidden...I found myself searching a graveyard for a unique tomb, walking down a lizard-populated path of rainforest reserve hidden in the middle of a residential area, investigating the mystery of a missing heiress, and scheduling a shiatsu massage (the author was right...getting scrubbed, stepped on, and kneaded was an ideal finale to a day of touring).

For all those who think they know Sydney- be prepared to be amazed!! Interesting facts and local tales enable the reader to rediscover popular tourist areas such as Bondi and Kings Cross. Detailed maps and directions will see you discovering new and beautiful areas known only to locals. For those who love Sydney and those wishing to discover it, this book has something for everyone. Extremely easy to read and immensely enjoyable, see your city with new eyes!!

WWII is a fascinating subject. From the Ribbentrop-Molotov pact, to Germany's secret missile program, to the Manhattan project, the era is packed full of fascinating and often horrific stories of innovation. The story told by Skeeter Beaters is an example of the fascinating. What's great about Skeeter Beaters is that this is a story I hadn't heard before. There's no movie starring John Wayne or Tom Hanks, and not many bullets screaming over the head of the protagonist. Nonetheless, this is a story that should be told. As the editorial review already says, the US was losing many more men to disease than to combat with the Japanese. The US Navy showed good old American innovation by putting a team together assigned to fight the problem. This is the story of that team, and I'm happy that it has been told.

ONCE YOU START TO READ THE BOOK, YOU CAN'T PUT IT DOWN. tHE MEDIC SHOOTING THE JAP IN THE HEAD AFTER TREATING HIM FOR HIS INJURIES. THE FACT THAT OUR (U.S.A.) ENTIRE SUPPLY OF QUININE WAS LOST WHEN THE SHIP CARRYING IT WAS SUNK BY THE JAPS. THE FACT THAT THE MEN ON GUADALCANAL HAD VERY LITTLE FOOD OR SUPPLIES. THIS TRULY IS A BOOK THAT SHOULD BE READ BY EVERYONE.

This book by Rob Oliver, not only contains beautiful graphics of the South West of Western Australia, but its consise history and general information of this area make it a MUST HAVE read. It would make an ideal "coffee table" book and should be available to every tourist establishment in the region. Too often visitors miss these wonderful places that Rob has covered because they "didn't know about them".

Written and illustrated by Rob Oliver, The South West: From Dawn Till Dusk is an utterly stunning, full-color photographic showcase of the glory of nature in the diverse landscapes of Western's Australia's southwest region stretching from Mandurah to Albany. A thoughtful and informative text is enhanced with simply gorgeous color photography documenting and showcasing lavish landscapes, as well as offering the reader social history, background information, and even legends. The South West is a welcome contribution to Photography and Australian Cultural reference collections, and is particularly recommended for tourists, naturalists, and armchair travelers with an abiding interest in spectacular, wild, and hauntingly beautiful nature.