Oceania Books

Paul Ham has managed to bring alive a time and place that we are now over half a century removed from.
He tells the tale Of the Kokoda Track campaign from the first day the Japanese ships appeared off the northern beaches of Papua New Guinea and the troops came ashore, through to their utter destruction many hard months later at the hands of the Australian and US troops.
He tells the story from the view of the soldier in the field, on both sides, to the perspectives of the highest offices of command and the egos at large there.
This was the first great reversal on land of the rampaging Japanese army. That a group of ragtag part time soldiers was able to slow them says something of the troops, and also of the terrain and conditions these troops were asked to fight in.
I asked for this book for a Christmas present and just stated the title thinking I would get the Peter FitzSimons book. I was a little disappointed when I found I had received this book instead. But I have to say by the time I had finished this book, the mistake was most welcome. I have not yet read the Peter FitzSimons book but I would have to say it would be hard pressed to top this book.
This is an outstanding read. There's not a wasted word or a dull sentence in the whole book. I would wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone interested in the campaigns of World War 2.

Includes Melpa Land Tenure - Rules & Processes, Land Tenure in the Woleai; on Kapingamarangi; Landholding on Namu Atoll, Marshall Islands; in the Ellice Islands; Tamana Island, Gilbert Islands; Case of Plamerson Atoll; Pacific Land Tenure in a Nutshell

I highly recommend David Bowman's new book, Legerdemain.
It is the most thorough and objective collection of just about all the
evidence and theories regarding what happened, or did not happen, to
Amelia Earhart that I have ever seen...literally a meticulous file of all
available old and newly discovered and rigorously analyzed information
about the disappearance and possible survival of Amelia Earhart.
It is thoroughly catalogued and documented, and a resource that no
sincere researcher should pass up making available to themselves.

This book would be one of the only country editions where I would say it isn't vastly superior to it's Lonely Planet competitor. It is thinner than Lonely Planet which is great if you're backpacking as it's less weight. If one company's version is a lot cheaper I'd say buy it.

The main difference between this and Let's Go is that this Lonely Planet is written for a North American audience whereas Let's Go is more for your British, European, Australian, South African and the like markets. This means those not from North America may find a lot of the information contained in Lonely Planet as common knowledge, especially historic things and would prefer to have less weight by not having this common knowledge space and weight creating information. Assuming you already know the common stuff Let's Go actually gives you more information as it has stuff Lonely Planet has left out for their space reasons. Since the American education system doesn't teach the basics about the world, American audiences may prefer Lonely Planet but others I would think would get more out of Let's Go. Lonely Planet does have a few colour photographs which Let's Go doesn't but you're going to take your own anyway.

A fair amount of the hostels in New Zealand actually do appear in this book with around the same number in Lonely Planet. Be aware that there are other hostels out there though, so don't completely rely on the book and use the best method word of mouth from other backpackers as well. Of course the price information is out of date as usual.

Actually I'd say don't bother with either as you're just reliving someone else's experiences and it's better to explore for yourself but for hostel listings and background info if you don't know much about New Zealand then this is useful. There is heaps of information in every New Zealand hostel on every part of New Zealand so you don't really need it.

This is a splendid study of power shifts, ruses, mimicry, contamination, counter-authority, in the textualizing Pacific seen as a domain of conversion and imperial materiality. The book deserves a wider recognition within postcolonial studies, as a thick descriptive theorization of colonial authority as made and unmade in a nexus of unequal and unstable distribution, then and now. The materials on Stevenson in Samoa are the best of their kind on native and colonial collaboration in something mongrel and new.

Bill Bachman's photography is brilliant. Here is great variety in subjects but no average photo. This book captures an important part of the Australian continent and its people. It is an inspiration to take better photos ourselves and to travel to the same or at least similar places as Bill has.

Leon Oberg has brought out the fourth edition of his classic works, "Locomotives of Australia" and if anything, it is an improvement on an already excellent book. This not only provides details on the very latest locomotives to be introduced on the various railroads of Australia over the last ten years, in addition to those already in the earlier edition, but includes many colour photographs as well, which add to the overall quality of the book. Also, I do not remember the section on the "Shays" in the last edition and believe it is an addition here. Undobtedly, this is one of the best books on locomotives anywhere, giving fascinating details and technical information on so many locomotives, from the first days of railways in Australia right up to the present day. This book should find a fitting place on the book shelf of any railway enthusiast not just in Australia, but all over the world.

Uday Peeligama
Sydney
Australia

I used this map book on a recent trip to Australia. I used it extensively and in conjunction with other travel books. We drove a rented RV from Sydney to Cairns (about 1500 miles). Had a blast and found this map book very useful.

This book is an excellent and still pretty up-to-date book on PNG's many and varied dive sites. Good way to plan a dive trip, by seeing which site descriptions most appeal to you. PNG's dive sites are very variable; fabulous visibility one day can be down to murky on the next. Little explored country in terms of diving, new sites are being identified all the time. Hopefully they'll update the book in a few years to include the many sites not known at the time it was first published. All in all, a very helpful and thorough book.

I purchased this book as part of my preparation for a diving trip to Chuuk Lagoon. It contains many excellent colour photographs of wrecks, coral, artifacts and local inhabitants. I found the brief history that accompanies each of the wrecks featured especially interesting. Likewise the diagrams of some of the wrecks, along with their various inclinations on the lagoon floor is fascinating.

Invaluable for such a trip are the scale maps of the lagoon and islands which pinpoint the location of the wrecks and other major features/landmarks. Further, the book grades each of the featured sites using the Pisces Rating System for Dives & Divers and the Dive Site Icons, both of which I found gave an excellent feel for the dive.

Finally, the overview of the area given in the first few chapters is a nice touch. It contains a brief history of the area, information for travelling to Chuuk, items to bring, weather, food, shopping etc.

In this book, author Tim Rock, has improved greatly his previous work on Truk Lagoon in 1994. I thoroughly recommend this book to anyone planning a trip to Chuuk, or, who simply wants to read about The Most Spectacular Wreck Diving in the World (In my opinion).