Oceania Books

This is a very well-written book, containing both exhaustive background and practical travel information on Java! It is MUCH better than the Java section of Lonely Planet's general Indonesia guide - lots of "off the beaten track" places included. Despite being a few years old now, it remains highly recommended - you just have to be prepared for the prices being higher!

This is one of the better travel books I've ever used. It provides information about food, lodging, and activites that are helpful whether you're travelling on an unlimited or, like me, a shoestring budget. The maps are helpful; very detailed and usually only showing the parts of cities that are interesting to tourists. There are excellent and insightful cultural essays that really add to the traveller's enjoyment.

Take this book if you're off to Java. It's a wonderful wonderful place, so don't miss it if you've ever considered going East!

This is the book, that you have to take with you. Its not the first time I took Lonley planet books with me. Its saved me a lot of money with very good b&b recommendations. The money you spend for the book you probablly earn the first night you take the advice about the hotels.

Laughs, chills and thrills for Children of all ages. Tia - Gam The Trickster delights with a sense of humor and mischief! Whales Canoe will take you on a trip that must be explored by young and old. This CD is a must have for entertainment.... cruising down the road, sitting around the campfire or just playing pretend!

It is no wonder that the author has children fighting over copies of this !!! When I hold it I say "MINE MINE MINE" too. The work is not only excellently WRITTEN - it manages to achieve that ever present goal of the writer - to entertain and teach simultaneously. The parables are so unforgettable - they stay with you and haunt you and make you a better person. I find myself going over and over the stories in my mind when I am quiet or even when I am not - they just keep running through my brain - and each time I learn something more. There is gentle and strong wisdom here - with a touch of magick. However it becomes very addictive - mine is being used and loved till it is worn out. This is more than a collection of stories - it is one of those creations that also becomes a beloved friend.

The stories are wonderful for all ages. Entertaining and engaging. Listen to learn how the kookaburra got it's laugh. Ever wondered how kangaroos found their way to Australia? Dal Burns will draw you into the characters and stories where you will find the surprising answers!

I came across this book almost by accident and I was surprised by how easy to read and useful it is.
The prices and costs may not be up to date but these can be determined by surfing the net. Well worth the price and the effort.
Like I said, a must - read for anyone headed to Australia for over 3 weeks.

Bear in mind however that this version has not been updated for a few years.

I truly enjoyed reading this book as I was able to learn the most essential aspects of living and working in Australia. This book features great advice on how to prepare yourself for the big move "Down Under", and what to expect from this new country. It also gives you a reality check on life in Australia as a new immigrant with all the challenges one must face. I really enjoyed the detailed list of "Aussie Real Estate Jargon" as I will need to refer to it when I will be looking for an apartment in Sydney. There are so many useful and practical information and advice in this book such as tips on how to find a job. This book has given me the confidence to move to Sydney as I feel prepareed and armed with the right information needed to make a good start Down Under. I have also read others books on "Living and Working in Australia", and this book is the best so far as it has the highest quality of content compared to the other ones.

I truly enjoyed reading this book as I was able to learn the most essential aspects of living and working in Australia. This book features great advice on how to prepare yourself for the big move "Down Under", and what to expect from this new country. It also gives you a reality check on life in Australia as a new immigrant with all the challenges one must face. I really enjoyed the detailed list of "Aussie Real Estate Jargon" as I will need to refer to it when I will be looking for an apartment in Sydney. There are so many useful and practical information and advice in this book such as tips on how to find a job. This book has given me the confidence to move to Sydney as I feel prepareed and armed with the right information needed to make a good start Down Under. I have also read others books on "Living and Working in Australia", and this book is the best so far as it has the highest quality of content compared to the other ones.

This travel book on Samoa is full of information to help one maximize a trip to Somoa. It has some great descriptions of Samoan history and places of interest. I am worried though. I am worried that if ever go to Samoa I will not know how to properly act. The author of this travelogue time and time again warns the reader about Samoan cultural mores which should be followed. But I am afraid I will forget some of them and be a shameful traveler.

This book is PACKED with information! It is also a really great size (smallish) to tuck in my travel bag and take along to be sure not to miss anything on my first trip to Samoa. :o)

This book has everything you need to know when travelling to Samoa. Nothing is missed and you should be able to plan a long or short stay in Samoa. Everything is as described in the book and nothing is really out of date. The only problem is that some of the maps lack detail to be useful, however quality maps are available in Apia.

This is a richly detailed, and very touching book about one place though history. Although it is a children's book, adults will find plenty to interest them, especially if they have an interest in history. There are maps drawn by the characters of where they live that are interesting to observe for the continuity through time. Wars, immigration, and environmental change all play a part. Some things remain the same.

I use this book in class rooms all over the place, from 6 year olds to 12 year olds. I am currently planning a 10 week program of literature and art around this book for 10 year olds. The older kids appreciate the things that the younger kids don't pick up on,eg: family relationships between different characters at different times. It a great jump start to talking about Multiculturalism in Australia and how this came about, where the different nationalities came from and why. Discussions about war are also valid. I am using it to focus the kids on their place, physically and metaphorically, we will be creating our own maps and writing to go with them. We are then going to 'publish' them in our own book and hold an exhibition of the original art works in conjunction with their completed page and the completed book.

This book came out in 1988 during Australia's bicentennial of the European invasion of Australia. It shares a title with a book by Sally Morgan, an Aboriginal women whose search for her own identity and place was published at the same time. This book can be read in either direction. For younger children, it may be easier to start at then end an move forwards. For older children, part of the fun is in uncovering the history of the place - an inner urban area of Sydney.

The book emphasises the timeless continuity of the place, and that even though we might be the temporary custodians of a piece of land, we share a common history and linkage through our humanity, and our Aboriginal history. Lushly illustrated by Donna Rawlins, and words by Nadia Wheatley. A valuable asset to any school library, primary or secondary, and public library, as well as the shelves at home.

My son first showed interest in t at about age 4, and has returned to it periodically since - ie over 2 years. It will stay with him for many years yet!

This is a great book by a brilliant historian who is deeply revered on both sides of the Atlantic. It will be the definitive work. Christopher Catherwood, author of CHRISTIANS, MUSLIMS AND ISLAMIC RAGE (Zondervan, 2003)

This is a much more thorough study of Congregational culture and doctrine than that of Perry Miller. Miller's work relied entirely on published weekday sermons. Stout mined the unpublished sermon notes of hundreds of New England preachers to find a balance that Miller missed. Stout convincingly shows that the ministers' commitment to the salvation of their listeners was always paramount, and finds a consistency in their messages that link the ministers of the 1630's with those of the 1770's. Stout finds few doctrinal differences between Old Lights such as John Cotton and New Lights such as Jonathan Edwards. It's a tough read (being intellectual history), but it's well worth the effort if you wish to get inside the Puritan mind.

Harry S. Stout (Ph.D., Kent State University) is currently a professor of American religious history at Yale University. Building on the groundbreaking work of Perry Miller, Stout published The New England Soul in 1986. The study is more extensive than its paperback size might suggest. The main body of the work covers nearly 150,000 words and is supplemented by 68 pages of extensive end notes. The work has become a standard text for college and graduate courses in colonial American history.

Stout's work centers on the content, role, and power of the sermon in Puritan (later New England) America from the first landings to the beginning of the American revolution. His thesis, which is strongly supported through the work, is that the sermon was the central agent in creating a cohesive culture that evolves toward eventual self-identity and independence. Drawing extensively on primary sources, Stout brings to the contemporary reader the piety and passions of the people whose culture forms the soil for the American nation.

Stout follows the sermon through five generations of New England preachers. These generations are marked by gradual but significant changes in the style and, to some degree, content of the sermon. These five generations he labels invention (1620-1665), arrangement (1666-1700), style (1701-1730), delivery (1731-1763), and memory (1764-1776).

These five stages are, he admits, not dramatic shifts as much as a continual evolution. Through these stages Stout demonstrates changes in style (from plain to "Anglican") and, to some degree, in content. He asserts, however, that the essential core elements of the sermon remain consistent, and that the changes reflect the sermon's adjustment to a changing environment. In this assertion Stout challenges to common suggestion that Puritan preaching displaced its original mission and passion over time.

The themes of personal piety and liberty, Stout demonstrates, are constant from the early sermons of John Cotton to sermons like that of Samuel West celebrating the liberation of Boston by George Washington in 1776. These themes are linked by a shared sense of cultural and religious destiny, the "city set on a hill" mission, in which American New England would fulfill the goal of Calvin's Geneva to create the perfect society in which the Kingdom of God might be fully realized on earth.

The New England preacher, more so than the statesman or soldier, was the preeminent power and power-broker in the Colonial period. The sermon was both soteriological and political, reflecting a conceptual marriage of church and state difficult for the contemporary reader to fully grasp.

One great value of Stout's work is, following in the steps of Perry Miller, he brings to the reader the words of voices long forgotten. While John Cotton, Cotton Mather, Jonathan Edwards, and a handful of other divines have remained well known figures, at least to students of early American history, Stout brings to life the words of dozens of other preachers whose works and words are now preserved only in small numbers of rare books and pamphlets.

Stout effectively demonstrates how the sermons, especially of the eighteenth century, laid the foundation for the revolution and the birth of the American nation. The "messianic mission" of the early Puritans was malleable enough to be transfigured into the great battle, against the Beast of the British monarchy, to establish the independence of the colonies. Any student of American or religious history would be well served by including Stout's work in their must-read list. Any teacher of early American history should seriously consider adding this to any list of recommended texts. The contemporary student will be surprised at the multiple connections between religious and political thinking in early American life, as well as the pivotal role the sermon plays in the development of that life.

As I anticipated this publication on Pacific jewelry and adornment is a striking publication. It is beautifully designed and printed.

There are over 240 high-quality photographs illustrating an awesome selection of objects from around the Pacific. The first class photography reveals the exquisite details of artistry used with various materials - all round this book makes great pacific ornamental reference material.

Enhanced throughout with the superb color images of Auckland-based photographer Krzysztof Pfeiffer, Pacific Jewelry And Adornment is the collaborative work of Roger Neich (Curator of Ethnology, Auckland Museum and Professor of Anthropology, University of Auckland) and Fuli Pereira (Curator of the Pacific Collection, Auckland Museum). This impressively informative work of art history showcases 250 representative examples of traditional jewelry from the Pacific made from the raw materials of jade, whale tooth and bone, shark teeth, tapa, shells, and plant fibers. Insightful information is provided to the use of personal decorative items to reflect power, status and community, as well as their significance with respect to high ceremonial occasions. Drawn from the collections of the Auckland Museum, these illustrative items reflect the vast geographical areas of the Pacific from Micronesia, Papua, New Guinea, and Fiji, to Samoa, Tonga, Hawaii, New Zealand, and the Cook Islands. Pacific Jewelry And Adornment is a strongly recommended addition to any academic or community library Oceanic Culture or Art History collection.

Roger Neich is one of the leading experts in Pacific ethnology with a score of informative and readable books and catalogs to his credit. Pacific Jewelry and Adornment is the most recent addition to his remarkable published work. Incorporating some of the best examples of Pacific Jewelry from the Aukland Museum and other collections, the book provides a concise and detailed overview of the diversity of styles, while outlining the forces of migration and trade that influenced the dispersal of form and material. As an ethnologist who has studied and written on Pacific adornment, I have read pretty much everything there is on the subject, and this book is the single best source. Beautifully illustrated also.

I was looking for some thorough information about the island and its inhabitants past and present. This book was very specific and gives a person everything you may want to know and not know.

This book is rich with detail. The author goes beyond the story of the Mutiny on the Bounty and tells us what happens next, from the late 1700s to the present day. This is a fascinating account of the lives of the people who inhabit and visit Pitcairn Island.

I had a strong hunch before purchasing this book that it would turn out to be an exciting read. Last year at our local college I took Professor Robert Kirk's American History course (1865-present), and I was impressed with how he could transform what otherwise might be a series of dry facts and events into themed narrative tales that had the same compelling force as dramatic fiction.

And Pitcairn Island does not disappoint. Kirk just knows how to tell a tale, and he does this with the same narrative drive he uses in his lectures, and with the same wryness. Describing the fate of the captured mutineers: "Slowly gasping for air, each of the condemned was hoisted up by his neck. It was as good free entertainment as George III's government could provide." (p. 44)

The book reads like a novel, but you never forget that the stories are true, since Kirk documents the events, the characters and their actions in exquisite detail. Kirk had access to many primary documents at the Pitcairn Island Study Center at Pacific Union College, with at least 200 sourced references for this book. His own visit to the island must have given him a real feel for the current scene. The result is that the depth of scholarship and analysis is profound throughout all 250 pages. Just one example: When referring to the prison colony on Norfolk island (to which the Pitcairners moved at one point), Kirk writes, "Victims [prisoners] who fainted from the flogger's blows were allowed to rest for a short time until they had recovered sufficiently to continue to receive the number of lashes promised...it was not uncommon to find survivors with no flesh on their backs." (p. 114). How was Kirk able to dig up such morbid and fascinating details from the early 1800's? Clearly he did his homework.

I'm not usually much of a history buff, but it's hard not to be drawn in by an adventure tale that starts with the violent mutiny on the Bounty, a many-year hideout on an uninhabited remote island with violent mutineers and beautiful Polynesian women, and ends with a controversial rape and sex abuse trial that took place just 4 years ago. Along the way, beneath the seediness and steaminess, Kirk shows us how generations of a small group of isolated islanders survive and die, sometimes prosper, and sometimes wither, under adverse and bizarre conditions that are probably unique on this planet.

Anyone who's looking for a history book that reads like a novel, and certainly anyone planning on taking a cruise through the South Pacific with the idea of visiting Pitcairn Island, should pick up a copy of this book. This is the definitive story.

Polynesian Interconnections is a mix of the latest scientific information,mixed with Archaeology, Anthropology, Biology, Morphology, Genetics & Linguistics to educate and to analyze the inter-relatedness of the Polynesian people from Samoa, Tahiti, Hawaii, Fiji, Tonga, Marquesas, and the Cook Islands. Author, AhChing, looked for the most current research from the University of Hawai'i to write this book; his style makes for easy reading that is both enjoyable and thought provoking. The book also has its share of drama, as it seeks to address topics that those outside of the Polynesian community might not have known were so controversial... like the idea of a Samoan playing the lead role of Kamehameha the Great, if a movie were ever to be made. Polynesian Interconnections addresses this issue along with many others, and Author, AhChing clearly states his perspective. The editorial reviews for his book state, "This book should be read by all school age children & discussed with friends & family. A great education reference book and a solid foundation for tomorrow's generation." Pick up a copy and decide for yourself.

"POLYNESIAN INTERCONNECTIONS" celebrates the unity of one Polynesian family related to Europeans, Asians and Aborigines Africans through their ancient heritage and genetics. The term Polynesian means 'many islands' or 'many races.' The Polynesians came from an ancient family of intermixed races and today we share our 'ohana' with all peoples of the world. We are one family, the human family, the Polynesian family. To the world we say 'ALOHA' and may the love and spirit of family bring happiness and prosperity into our lives.

Polynesian Interconnections. 2004 books are now in the HAWAII STATE ARCHIVES 2005. (1) These books were featured on Hawaii State-wide KHON 2, Channel 2 Morning News, October 12, 2004. (2) Hawaii State Archives, Library Collection. October 6, 2004. (3) Hawaii Medical Library, Queens Medical Center, Honolulu. November 1, 2004. (808-536-9302). (4) University of Hawaii Library System Network (808-956-8111). This is a tremendous accomplishment for a well written book which seeks to educate and entertain. Well done!

At the end of the book Mr. Salecker notes that what the public thinks it knows about the Pacific war is usually limited in comparison to the war in the ETO, and what little awareness there is usually involves the Marines. Guilty as charged! Taking absolutely nothing away from the Marines, I was almost totally unaware of the scale and scope of armored operations in the Pacific that are recounted in this book. If you like military history, and especially if you are a "tread head" like me, then you will really enjoy this book. It is a great read, and it passes what I consider to be the real acid test for any book. It made me want to go out and read and learn more on the subject.

I also build WW II model tanks, and this book is an endless source of information, ideas, inspiration, and photos for future armor modeling projects.

Veteran military author, Gene Eric Salecker has written "Rolling Thunder: Against the Rising Sun: The Combat History of the U.S. Army Tank Battalions in the Pacific in World War II." The story, of course, is familiar to Pacific War readers.

Mr. Salecker's book is a crisp, well-paced narrative of battlefield actions. It avoids the voyeurism that books about fighting the Samurai easily fall into. With the bigger picture of the Pacific War rather limited in his book, Mr. Salecker has done a fine job of producing a micro-history of U.S. Army armored operations in the Pacific campaign. The author is a reliable, informed and entertaining navigator -- he tells a lot of good stories, and tells them well.

As his historic survey makes clear, U.S. Army tanks struggled against the environment almost as much as the Japanese. Tanks lost their tracks burrowing along dense, mine infested jungle paths -- sank into deep underwater shell holes in coral reefs -- got hung up on coconut stumps -- flipped over climbing muddy dirt trails.

Early in the war, fighting for Luzon, Bataan, and New Guinea, the M5 Stuart light tank was effective at wiping out machine gun nests and blasting snipers out of palm trees with canister shot. The M5 was fairly vulnerable to all types of the Japanese antitank guns. More of the armor losses, however, involved untimely mechanical breakdowns, blown tracks, getting hopelessly stuck, and roll-overs. If disabled tanks could not be towed away, crews had to destroy them.

The M3 Lee medium tank and the M4 Sherman medium tank proved to be nearly immune to lighter artillery. Japanese infantry resorted to close assault tactics with magnetic mines, grenades, satchel charges, and Molotov cocktails. Tankers had to provide covering fire for each other as Japanese soldiers attempted to scramble aboard.

Land mines continued to disable tanks throughout the entire Pacific campaign. Encounters with Japanese tanks were very few, and they were always quickly dispatched.

On coral atolls, like Makin, Biak and Kwajalein, the Japanese enjoyed wide fields of defensive fire from pillboxes, bunkers, and camouflaged entrenchments. Faced with fanatical resistance, infantry could make little progress against them without armored support. Tank losses were mostly from floundering in coastal waters, getting deeply stuck, and untimely mechanical breakdowns. The value of flame-throwing tanks was soon recognized.

The Japanese became more knowledgeable on how to destroy tanks as the Pacific campaign progressed. To be sure, the author's respect for the Japanese soldier is apparent. On Saipan, Guam, Peleliu, and Okinawa, the Japanese fought from a interlocked system of caves, tunnels, and spider holes. U.S. Army infantry teams could make no headway against this resistance without major assistance from artillery and armor. Here the 37mm M5 Stuart was ineffective -- the greater firepower of the 75mm M4 Sherman, 76mm M10 tank destroyers, 105mm assault guns, and 150mm artillery were necessary to blast the Japanese out.

Needing to reach remote battlefields, tankers relied on bulldozers to cut trails into the rugged back country. The narrow mountain trails were often guarded by Japanese anti-tank guns, heavy artillery, and machine guns installed in caves. Japanese artillery first drove off accompanying infantry teams, then suicide troops hiding nearby in spider holes would attack stalled tanks.

We learn, for example, that once a tank is disabled, the crew was easily killed trying to abandon their tank. And as Mr. Salecker points out, many men died attempting to tow away disabled American tanks.

As the Japanese were pushed back into smaller areas, they would launch frantic hordes of infantry to overwhelm their besiegers. This often resulted in large groups of Japanese being cornered and annihilated in short order by tankers firing canister and machine guns backed up by covering infantry teams.

"The American's answer to the enemy's strong and integrated defenses was the tank-infantry team, including the newly developed armored flamethrower, and supported by artillery," declares Mr. Salecker. The author shows the almost supernatural bond between these tankers and the infantry.

The author writes in one passage, "Guns and howitzers battered Japanese cave openings, dugout, and pillboxes, forcing enemy gunners back into tunnels for protection and decreasing their fields of fire. Taking advantage of the resulting 'dead spaces,' infantry and tanks crept up on the most vulnerable point, the tanks attacked the position point-blank with cannon, machine guns, and flame, while the infantry prevented Japanese 'close-quarters attack troops' carrying explosives from closing in on the tank." There are some fascinating details to be found among these battle action vignettes.

Mr. Salecker curiously refrains from analyzing Japanese weapons and tactics, preferring to focus on those of the U.S. Army. The author successfully shows the step-by-step development of ground tactics that most likely would be needed to conquer the Japanese home islands. "At the time of the Japanese surrender, there were fourteen independent tank battalions in the Pacific theater of operations."

"Rolling Thunder" has 60 excellent photographs and 25 good maps. There is much to recommend this new work. This book provides a good contrast to armored operations in North Africa and Western Europe. The best moments in the book are the fascinating cameos of buttoned up tankers fighting the fanatical Japanese.

Mr. Salecker has done a major service to the history of US Army armor by providing us with a complete history of the Army tank units involved in the Pacific campaigns from 1941 thru victory in 1945. This is an area that has been ignored by other publications that cover the history of American tank units. Here we see the desperate battles by under-trained tank crews in the fall of the Phillipines, the use of tanks in the jungles of New Guinea, the landing of tanks on island invasions, the large use of tanks in the recapture of the Phillipines and the final actions on Okinawa. The author looks at the machines used, but the real focus of the book is on the units and the men who actually fought in the tanks. Many veterans contributed stories about combat in places where heat, insects and disease were as deadly as the determined enemy. Well written and easy reading. This volume belongs on the shelf of anybody interested in the Pacific campaigns or the history of American armored units.