Oceania Books

College-level collections will find Historical Dictionary of India a powerful addition to the series of historical dictionaries of Asia and the Mid-East: its updated second edition offers over a hundred new cross-referenced dictionary entries, much of which cover the last decade, and other updates add new research, revise the chronology of events, and expand the introduction. Listings do more than provide a paragraph of detail: history and biography embrace pages of detail, at times, and are packed with in-depth coverage suitable for reports.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

Historical Dictionary of Iraq begins with the earliest civilizations and covers the periods that followed, ranging from the history of ancient Mesopotamia to the Abbasid Empire to present-day Iraq. Included are a historical overview; a country profile; a review of the economy, oil, fauna, and political institutions; coverage of the Iran-Iraq War, the Kuwait invasion, the second Gulf War, and other conflicts. The major ethnic groups, such as the Kurds, Turkumans, and Assyrians; Islam and Muslim sects, Christianity and Christian sects, as well as other religious groups; are profiled. Dictionary entries also highlight the main political, religious, and ideological parties, groups, and organizations; major historical personalities; languages; literature; and cultural elements. A broad range of topics, both ancient and modern, are dealt with throughout the introduction and the dictionary, and a comprehensive bibliography complements this extensive historical reference.
The general purpose of this dictionary is to cover a number of diverse subjects ranging from the history of ancient Mesopotamia to the `Abbasid Empire to present-day Iraq . It includes a historical overview, a country profile, the economy, oil, fauna, political institution, the Iran-`Iraq war, the Kuwait invasion, and the second Gulf War and other conflicts. It also covers the major ethnic groups such as the Kurds, the Turkumans and the Assyrians, Islam and Muslim sects, Christianity and Christian sects, as well as other religious groups. The dictionary highlights the main political, religious, and ideological parties, groups, and organizations; major historical personalities; languages; literature; culture; a comprehensive bibliography; and other topics. We have also dealt with a broad range of topics both ancient and modern.

College-level collections strong in Asian history and culture can't be without this updated third edition of HISTORICAL DICTIONARY OF TAIWAN, which surveys the nation's history, ongoing conflicts with China, and other political and social issues. Here's a cross-referenced dictionary of entries which includes important people, places, events and political parties, surveying the entire country's affairs. Perfect for in-depth reports or as a reference starting point.

The collaborative effort of Norris W. Potter, Lawrence M. Kasdon, and Ann Rayson, History Of The Hawaiian Kingdom is a solidly written and easily accessible reference for readers of all ages and backgrounds concerning the history of the Hawaiian Kingdom from the arrival of Captain Cook in 1775 down to the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy by American forces near the beginning of the twentieth century. Color illustrations and informative text make for an excellent general primer and resource. Also recommended is a History Of The Hawaiian Kingdom workbook ..., and classroom teachers using it as an instructional textbook should also acquire a History Of The Hawaiian Kingdom answer key ...

I read this book back in 1995 and am surprised I am the first Amazon user to review it. I found this book tremendously worthwhile.

It is an excellent overview of the history of the Pacific Islands. If you are interested in this topic than you couldn't ask for a better introduction to it than this.

Kirsty Brooks set out to write a book about hitchhiking. She got a car and headed out, looking for hikers to pick up.

She found less than a dozen.

So she went out and collected stories from all over the world of the strangest occurrences that have happened, from drink-driving mayors in France to hitchhiking in Japan, where the drivers will give you their umbrellas when you stop.

It's a great read, interlaced with some wonderful picture-postcards, making the whole book a very attractive package.

Keri Hulme's extraordinarily vivid writing brings to life three wild and beautiful places in the South Island of New Zealand. Whether or not the reader has ever visited Okarito, Moeraki or Rakiura, the text makes them real, so that you can feel the surge of the wild West Coast surf, smell the kelp, see the grains of sand amidst the foam on the beach, and hear the chiming songs of the birds in the coastal forest. Robin Morrison's talented eye provides photographs that support the text in providing a glimpse into some of the quiet special places of the world.

It is a truism that success rarely comes to three successive generations of a family. But Jamie Packer is the fourth generation success story in the media-owning family which never seems to strike failure.

"The House of Packer" goes back to Jamie's great-grandfather, R C Packer, newspaper and magazine proprietor in Sydney in the inter-war years, then on to R.C.'s son (later Sir) Frank Packer who started the Australian Women's Weekly and, later, TV Channel Nine.

It is a company history rather than a group biography, so there is information on union disputes, the introduction of new technology, Federal election campaign coverage, competition with other media companies and so on.

But it is the larger than life characters, so typical of journalism in the early to mid-twentieth century and so lacking today, which give the book its human interest. Along with the bold and vigorous writing.

The book concludes with Sir Frank's death and his son Kerry (Jamie's father) taking over the reins. It is an absolute must for people interested in media studies, economic history, political intrigue or just plain power.

Professor Good has written a timely and brave book. It is honest, clear and full of the detached passion of Orwell's incisive wit. It is indeed readable and concise in its just over 100 pages of careful prose. The mumbo-jumbo that has pervaded English departments in North America in the guise of so-called literary theory is the bane of clarity, intellectual growth and analytical rigour. It is, as Professor Good claims, anathema to the freedom of the individual and independent thought: precisely what a good liberal humanist education should aim for. What we have is ideology masked as education where seminar rooms have been turned into indoctrination sessions in which any attempt to be different through providing an argument against a vacuous idea by Derrida, a mystically misplaced one by Focault, or the Geertzean-induced glaze of Greenblatt is deemed 'reactionary' etc. In other words conform, or you're out. It is time for all clear thinking people to take a stand and fight for the right to be different as a responsible individual in society. Professor Good's book, though polemical, provides arguments in a systematic manner as to why that time is now. My only caveat to an otherwise excellent book, is at one point a slightly simplified portrayal of Nietzsche's ideas occurs. True, Nietzsche could be read as being misogynist, or anti-democratic etc, but he did say a lot of things to upset people: that was his style and part of his radical individualism. For in his inconsistencies and contradictions (deliberate or otherwise) Nietzsche provided an original view of the individual who could be strong by defying the norm, and those norms would include those set up as sacrosanct by the high priests of Theory today. But one can see why the simpler version of Nietzsche's thought was used in this instance, as it is an antinomy probably used as a rhetorical device to make more effective the stance against the Theorists' misappropriation of Nietzsche as defender of ideologically driven 'oppressed' people, genders and those of differing sexual orientation of the world, some of whom (I stress, some) have decided to again reinvent and misuse Nietzsche's dictum "the world is the will to power and nothing besides". The last group of people with a grievance who did the same thing were the Nazis.

I found this book eminently readable. It shows that the author has a good grasp of the subject which she has analysed in an inteligent manner. Unlike the majority of books that try to put across a view that contradicts the prevelent thinking of the day, this book has convinced me to change many of my beliefs concerning the area of history covered.I would love to have the oppertunity to discuss the book further with the author.