Oceania Books

In spite of the fact I'm not used to the fodor's books layout, I think it's a good guide.
Sometimes I feel it aims to a 'not low budget' public. (and I always backpack on low budget)...
Regarding the "paperback" quality: some pages got lost, the book spine got 'broken', that's something I miss about lonely planet quality.
The overall result of this guide, was, for me, good.

I've been ploughing thru Oz guides lately researching and planning a possible trip, and this one is comparable to the Frommer's guide. A good guide, less photos than the Dorling-Kindersley, Nat'l Geog., and Insight Guides, but then you're getting two to three hundred pages less of info for five to seven dollars more in those books.

I have a suggestion on how to use these two different types of guides, which is these beautiful, lavishly illustrated, glossy guides are great for looking at the photos of the sights and doing basic research, and for zeroing in on where you want to go, then you can pick up the Frommer's and Lonely Planet and Fodor's guides to get more information.

For a country as big and as diverse as Oz, one guide really isn't enough, so you could buy one of each, and you'd probably do quite well. (The only problem was, after I'd looked at all the spectacular photos in the Insight, DK, and N.G. guides, I felt like I'd almost been there, and was reluctant to spend several thousand dollars on an actual as opposed to an armchair trip :-)). Overall, a well written, detailed, and enjoyable guide on that mysterious and fabled land Down Under.

***Nerdy paleontological footnote. I have to say one more thing about Australia, which is that millions of years ago, I once read in an Encyclopedia Britannica article on Australia that there were 10-foot high, 600-pound carnivorous kangaroos that could probably have made short work of us puny humans. Fortunately, they all died out long before the arrival of the first Aborigines 60,000 years ago. :-)

Nice pictures, complicated indexes, not so many navigation tips, poor English translation. Nevertheless this is the only nautical guide for the area (Bora Bora - Raiatea - Tahaa) I was interested in. Buy it if you can't find something better.

Excelent book for the navigator as well as being a first rate cruising guide.

This is a good starting point for every student who have just started to explore Tajikistan and its Soviet and post-Soviet history.
Extensive systematized bibliographyis also very helpful.

This is a good starting point for every student who have just started to explore Tajikistan and its Soviet and post-Soviet history.
Extensive systematized bibliographyis also very helpful.

An interesting, if brief, overview. The work takes a quick look at the origins of Australian indigenous literature, from when it was not believed that it was possible, to when it was suppressed and discouraged, and talks about the few examples that survive.

The major focus is on more modern work.

I was looking for a collection of short stories from Aboriginies of Australia, and this is not it. It is, however, a collection of essays about Indigenous Literature, from a cultural criticism point of view. Probably a wonderful resource, if you're headed for an advanced degree somewhere.

great information on new zealand cities and points of interest,historical & commercial. excellent itineraries with photography to give you a true sense of the trip, including physical requirements. recommend it highly for a first-time visitor!

This is a colorful book with lots of pictures about New Zealand. Its first couple of chapters include the history and culture of New Zealand are especially interesting. They were very useful for visitors to the Kiwi country. However, its lack of large street maps, area maps and detail route maps are disappointing as well as annoying. Although the front cover has an overview map of both the north & south island, I think it will improve the ease of reading and research if various level of district maps and street maps are provided, especially when a traveller was deciding which hotel/motel to book reservations and how far he/she needs to drive from one scenic spot to the next. Without this, it is disasterous for travel planning. Other things to include will be web sites for driving directions such as www.wises.co.nz etc. For a backpack traveller like me, I will even be willing to pay more if road maps/ street map of Auckland are included with the book (which some of the publishers are already doing).

I've been to Papua New Guinea, and I found this a very enjoyable read. Isabella Tree lets you get to know the people she meets, and her writing style really takes you along with her. This is just a short note to say "give this one a try."

Islands in the Clouds is one of the better travelogues to come out as part of the Lonely Planet Journeys series. Tree gives a good overview of the history, sociology and culture of the highlands of Papua New Guinea in an well-paced, beautifully written tale. Adding to the value of the book is its Tok Pisin glossary, which makes for a nice introduction to the pidgin/creole language of PNG.

I came at this book with an interest in Mansfield (and to a lesser extent Woolf) and was tired of the countless studies (chapters and essays) comapring the two. Needless to say, then, I approached this study with trepidation and assumed I would not think much of it. But what a surprise! Smith has done a terrific job with her research and has produced a study that towers over the others I've seen. The study smells of sweat and hard work. I put it alongside Sidney Janet Kaplan's and Patricia Dunbar's studies of Mansfield. It is one of the best.

I came at this book from the Mansfield camp and a little exhausted by all of the stale comparisons between Mansfield and Woolf. However, Smith's work is full of well-researched and thoughtful analysis. It's an amazing study--particularly of Mansfield, I think--and one that belongs on the same shelf as Kaplan's KM & THE ORIGINS OF MODERNIST FICTION and Dunbar's RADICAL MANSFIELD. Essential reading for Mansfield scholars and fans alike.

This is an illustrated children's book. It takes the true story of an Australian historical character and bushranger, Moondyne Joe, and turns it into an illustrated version for children. This is not too bad at all, and if you are after a simple adventure picture book for an young aussie kid, no reason not to get something like this.

Mark Greenwood's The Legend Of Moondyne Joe is an legend of the greatest escape artist of the era when Australia was used a prison destination by Great Britain. Moondyne Joe was not gunfighter or a bank robber, but rather a thief with the uncanny ability to regain freedom every time he was put behind bars. The simple, color illustrations by Frane Lessac bring life to a vivid legend in this charming story which is highly recommended for young readers.

It's a good regional guide, but you should consider it if you're staying lot of time and doing lot of activities in queensland. The Lonely Planet australia is enought for the 'basic knowledge' of the region.
Consider it ONLY if you wanna "research" DEEPLY in queensland.

LP does a great job, as usual, of detailing the less expensive ways to get around. I find that when they say a place is less-frequented, they are often right, at least for now.

Somewhat disappointing for a LP guide, lots of text but not as much "meat". After travelling in the Solomons and talking with others one gets the impression that the author did quite limited travelling throughout the islands and largely relied on other's reports. The hike to Mataniko Falls is way more strenuous and dangerous than hinted. (It is still an awesome sight, especially if you're a caver) Likewise a hike along the Weather Coast is more challenging than one would gather from the text, there are places where villagers go by boat because of the vertical exposure. Makira Island is only marginal habitat for salt-water crocodiles according to a Conservation International report and not as abundant as stated in the guide. Given the dearth of information about the Solomons it is still worth buying, but prudence is recommended.

This is the last edition of Lonely Planet's Solomon Islands guide.
It has not been updated since the mid-90es, and has in theory been replaced by the publisher's 2005 "Papua New Guinea & Solomon Islands" guide, which in reality only devotes fewer than 30 pages to the Solomon Islands, completely ignoring half the country's provinces, concentraiting on Honiara and a few popular tourist spots instead.

This edition (or the nearly identical 2nd edition), in contrast, covers the entire archipelago in amazing detail, all the way from the Treasury Islands in the West to the remote Polynesian outliers of Tikopia and Anuta in the East.
Each major province and island is described in good detail, and is shown on a good map.
Needless to say, some things have changed - however in the Solomons they have probably changed much less than in most of the rest of the World!
I travelled in the country in 2005, and found myself using this book almost all the time, with the then brand new PNG & Solomons guide quickly buried to the depths of my backpack.

If you want to actually travel around this least visited corner of Melanesia, rather than just have a short holiday on a resort island in Western province, and especially if exploring remote islands and hiking remote mountains and shorelines is your thing, this book is definitely the one to take.
It is also highly recommended for those with a general interest in the country, as travel practicalities apart, the background info on the culture, geography and fauna of the Solomons is still better than I have found in any other single book.