Reviews (15)

Informative and interesting
This book is fascinating and very readable.Flannery teaches us quite a bit about the ecological history of Australasia for the past few tens of thousands of years.We learn about the flora and fauna, and about the impact of the people who rely on the fertility of the land to survive.We see examples of how human populations fared in places such as Tasmania and Easter Island, where they became isolated and started to run out of resources.
the book should be judged--not the writer
As a reader who admires good writing, and the effort that goes into writing a decent (popularized) account of a field, I take exception to the New Zealand reviewer's gossip of the author as a basis for judging the merit of this book. A Superb "Biography" of Australasia
Tim Flannery has written what can only be described as a the most comprehensive history imaginable of the lands making up present-day Australia, New Zealand, New Guinea, and New Caledonia.His fascinating account starts with the earliest breakaway of those lands from the super continent Gondwana, more than forty million years ago, and goes right up to the present-day, ending with Flannery's recommendations for preserving Australia's unique ecology.Read more

Subjects:  1. Australasia    2. Australia & New Zealand - General    3. Effect of human beings on    4. Environmental Conservation & Protection - General    5. Environmental Studies    6. Extinction (Biology)    7. History    8. History: World    9. Life Sciences - Ecology    10. Natural history    11. Nature   

Reviews (2)

Valuable study and good read
This book is a valuable study of the colonization of Hawai`i and the role of "law" in the islands' cultural transformation.I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in a critical understanding of Hawai`i's social, economic and politial dynamics.I particularly benefited from the insights on religion, sexuality and women.Sally Engle Merry provides a good articulation of the inevitable paradoxes facing the Hawaiian Nation in the 19th century vis-a-vis encroaching American imperialism and colonization."Colonizing Hawai`i" is also a good read in the context of critical legal studies.

A great disappointment
The blurb for this book suggests a scholarly analysis of the effect of law on an emerging culture. It is anything but. It is better described as a muddled attempt to justify the modern political movement that elevates the descendants of 18th century Hawaiians to sacred victimhood enjoyed by Indians and Eskimos. The title should be a warning that this author cannot tell the difference between a colonist and an immigrant. She displays a less than adequate understanding of Hawaiian history and misses the significance of early leaders, both native and immigrant. Queen Kaahumanu, probably the most important force in creating the Hawaiian monarchy, is barely mentioned, and then denigrated as a sort of tool of the Christian missionaries. Sanford Dole, chief justice of the monarchy, head of the provisional government, president of the republic, and governor of the territory, is ignored.The biggest problem with this book is that too many readers will take it seriously. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Anthropology - Cultural    2. Anthropology - General    3. Archaeology / Anthropology    4. Customary law    5. Government relations    6. Hawaiians    7. Legal status, laws, etc    8. Oceania    9. Politics and government    10. Social Science    11. Sociology    12. 20th century    13. American History    14. Anthropology    15. Asian and Asian American Studies    16. Colonization & independence    17. Cultural studies    18. Hawaii    19. Law    20. Laws of Other Jurisdictions & General Law    21. Political Science and International Relations    22. Postcolonial Studies    23. Social Science / Anthropology / General    24. Social groups & communities   

Reviews (1)

Aboriginal Stories
I bought this book with the hope of finding something more authentic than some of the more popular books on Australian Aboriginal culture I'd read.Though these stories have been collected, translated and compiled by Anglo Australians, my impression is that the authenticity of these stories has been retained.I do believe my authenticity-meter is pretty accurate.However, I have no authority on the subject, and would love to see a review here from someone who does.In absence of such, I hope my review is helpful to others.Read more

Subjects:  1. Aboriginal Australians    2. Anthropology - Cultural    3. Australia & New Zealand - General    4. Folklore    5. Folklore & Mythology    6. General    7. History    8. History: World    9. Mythology    10. Mythology, Aboriginal Australi    11. Mythology, Aboriginal Australian    12. New Age / Body, Mind & Spirit    13. Australia    14. Indigenous peoples    15. Myths & mythology    16. Social Science / Anthropology / Cultural    17. Women's studies   

Subjects:  1. Art    2. Art & Art Instruction    3. Criticism    4. Ethnic art    5. General    6. History - General    7. History Of Fine Arts    8. Oceania    9. Folk art    10. History Of Art / Art & Design Styles    11. Melanesia    12. Micronesia    13. Papua New Guinea    14. Polynesia   

Reviews (2)

An excellent overview
Australian Aboriginal art is gaining international recognition, and rightly so.It is an art form driven by the culture of the artsists, and this book covers the traditional works of desert Australia, and also touches on more the more contemporary works of urban dwellers.These works are vibrant and alive, and the illustrations do justice to the richness of the work.The accompanying text is detailed and authoritative. Companion to Aboriginal Art and Culture
This book was recently reviewed on the Sunday Arts program on ABC television in Australia. The book presents an authoratitive overview of the origins and development of Aboriginal Art and Culture in Australia.Read more

Subjects:  1. Aboriginal Australians    2. Art    3. Art & Art Instruction    4. Arts, Aboriginal Australian    5. Asian    6. Australia    7. Australia & New Zealand - Australia    8. Encyclopedias    9. Ethnic arts    10. Reference    11. Art & Architecture | History | Non-Western    12. Art / History / Asian    13. Art of indigenous peoples    14. Australasian & Pacific history    15. Cultural studies    16. Indigenous peoples   

Subjects:  1. Asia - General    2. Australia & New Zealand - General    3. History    4. History - General History    5. History: World    6. Indian Ocean    7. Indian Ocean Region    8. Navigation    9. World - General    10. History / Asia    11. Maritime history    12. Oceanography (seas)    13. Regional geography    14. World history   

Subjects:  1. Atlases - General    2. Atlases - Historical    3. Expeditions & Discoveries    4. Polar Regions    5. Reference   

Editorial Review

On December 14, 1911, the classical age of polar exploration ended when Norway's Roald Amundsen conquered the South Pole. His competitor for the prize, Britain's Robert Scott, arrived one month later--but died on the return with four of his men only 11 miles from their next cache of supplies. But it was Scott, ironically, who became the legend, Britain's heroic failure, "a monument to sheer ambition and bull-headed persistence. His achievement was to perpetuate the romantic myth of the explorer as martyr, and ... to glorify suffering and self-sacrifice as ends in themselves." The world promptly forgot about Amundsen.Read more

Reviews (71)

The last book on earth...twisted facts, and damn lies
The central theme of this book, (i.e that Captain Scott was a blundering idiot) has been exposed as nonsense by a series of recent and well balanced books written by expolorers such as Ranulph Fiennes and Antarctic researchers such as Susan Solomon, rather than amateur critics. Read "The Worst journey in the World" if you want a proper account of the Terra Nova expedition. But if you really must buy "The Last Place on Earth" then also read Antarctic explorer Ranulph Fiennes "Captain Scott" which exposes it as a lie.

Managing your team to survival and success
Why is this on my must-read list for business studies? Because this is an example of how and how not to manage a project, expedition, adventure or a company.
A parasite!a disgraceful ability to use limited facts with a biased fairy-tale!in order to simply sell.
If you have enjoyed this story,and it is a story!!of this man who with commendable conduct,achievement and courage,you owe all of the featured oates evans wilson and scott to read ranulph fiennes"CAPTAIN SCOTT" clarifying and extremely detailed FACTUAL account of evidence. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1868-1912    2. 1872-1928    3. Amundsen, Roald,    4. Biography    5. Discovery And Exploration (General)    6. Europe - General    7. Expeditions & Discoveries    8. Explorers    9. Great Britain    10. History    11. History - General History    12. History: World    13. Norway    14. Polar Regions    15. Scott, Robert Falcon,    16. Antarctica    17. Europe    18. Geographical discovery & exploration    19. History / General   

Subjects:  1. 1933-    2. 20th century    3. Ancher, Mortlock & Woolley    4. Architects    5. Architecture    6. Architecture, Australian    7. Architecture, Modern    8. Australia    9. Design & Drafting    10. History - Specific Styles    11. Individual Architect    12. Individual Architects Of The 20th Century    13. Public, Commercial, or Industrial Buildings    14. Woolley, Ken,    15. Individual architects    16. Woolley, Ken   

Editorial Review

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Reviews (12)

A story of lidership and loyalty
I read this after "South" and I think it is the right way to go. Worsley not only recounts the difficulties of the journey, but makes no effort to hide his admiration for his great leader and friend. The way Shackleton manages to motivate his crew in an unimaginably hostile environment is an example of true, effective leadership. Adventurers and business men, children and adults should all read this book.

Excellent Chapter on Survival and Will
I read this book because I had a passing interest in the story of the doomed ship. What I found was a great tale of will and courage in the face of overwhelming odds.This book sparked my interest in polar exploration and the explorers.Shackleton's story is a great one that should be read by anyone with an interest in Man's triumph over nature. 6 Stars - Incredible strory, A Great Book
An absolutely unbelievable expedition and survival story. Cleary the greatest exploration of all times. Fantastic and gripping description of the hardship that the Endurance crew of 28 men had to face for one year in the harshest terrian in the world.Read more

Subjects:  1. 1874-1922    2. Biography    3. Expeditions & Discoveries    4. Explorers    5. General    6. Great Britain    7. History    8. History - General History    9. History: World    10. Journeys    11. Polar Regions    12. Shackleton, Ernest Henry,    13. Sir,    14. World history   

Editorial Review

The title Read more

Reviews (2)

Superior scholarship, but tedious at times
Daniel Rodgers' thesis in Atlantic Crossings is simple and direct: "the reconstruction of American social politics was of a part with movements of politics and ideas throughout the North Atlantic world that trade and capitalism had tied together." (3) He concludes that from the 1870s through World War II, America was not an internalist or an imperialist nation, but instead these years saw an "opening" for social reformers in the U.S. to import foreign models and ideals from other North Atlantic countries.Furthermore, these imported policies and reforms (mostly from Britain and Germany) were not adopted in America (if at all) unchanged upon reaching the Atlantic's western shores, but instead were adapted to the peculiarities and idiosyncrasies of American society and political structure.Finally, Rodgers argues, the seeds of the New Deal can be found in the activities and positions of the social reform activists of the last two decades of the 19th century and the first thirty years of the 20th century. The next definitive work on the Progressive Era.
This is the policy-side answer to Kloppenberg's UNCERTAIN VICTORY. While that book focussed on intellectual links between European (esp. German or French) thought and early American pragmatism, Rodgers seeks more practicalapplications, well into the 20th century. He is so well versed in theliterature that scant references are made to secondary sources. It is richin the literature of the time, particularly journals, magazines, andnewspapers from several different countries. Interestingly, unlikeKloppenberg this book examines England and Scotland which provide springboards for American reforms. Rodgers' thesis is that the Europeanstried numerous policies which Americans learned about and then implemented,almost always later than their counterparts across the Atlantic--andsometimes with very limited success. The book is also noteworthy for someof the most practical applications of MODERNISM yet seen in contemporaryscholarship. This is a hot topic, largely seen in discussions of art orliterature. Here Rodgers takes all that knowledge, absorbs it, and thendemonstrates it in action across the POLITICAL spectrum. Despite theenormous research behind it, Rodgers has written an enjoyable, readablework that is of considerable importance. After all, this is the author ofthe famous article, "An Obituary for the Progressive Movement,"(1970) which claimed that there NEVER WAS such a movement. Here Rodgersanswers his own claim, saying that the American reform impulse built upon aEuropean foundation and produced policies which survive to the present. Myonly complaint is that this book is slanted TOWARDS Europe, with maybe 60%of the discussion dwelling across the Atlantic ... the format gets a littletedious, with most chapters beginning in Europe, then the Americans pick upon the policy (welfare, municipal gas/water etc) and then they try itthemselves. This is nitpicking, though, for such a substantive,well-researched, lucid work that defines this generation's scholarship onthe Progressive Era. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Americas (North Central South West Indies)    2. Australia & New Zealand - General    3. History    4. History & Theory - General    5. History: World    6. Politics / Current Events    7. United States - 19th Century/Turn of the Century    8. 20th century    9. American history: c 1800 to c 1900    10. American history: from c 1900 -    11. Anthropology    12. Political science & theory    13. USA    14. c 1800 to c 1900   

Reviews (3)

Unheralded Heros
There are many books written about recognized Marine heros. There were many. There were many men that were not singled out, Units that were not considered Elite as we might classify them today. They were the "Everyman's Marine" that performed as part of a team so the goal of victory could be met. These men unloaded the supplies, drove the trucks, resupplied the combat units, constructed roads and causeways that permitted heavy weapons to be utilized. On Target
An excellent first-person account of USMC elite in the Big War. Astory that should have been told.
A very good narative of all events. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Campaigns    3. Guadalcanal, Battle of, Solomo    4. Guadalcanal, Battle of, Solomon Islands, 1942-1943    5. History - Military / War    6. History: World    7. Lane, Kerry    8. Marines    9. Military - World War II    10. New Britain Island    11. Papua New Guinea    12. Personal narratives, American    13. United States    14. World War, 1939-1945    15. Europe    16. European history: Second World War    17. Maritime history    18. World history: Second World War   

Editorial Review

As Apsley Cherry-Garrard states in his introduction to theharrowing story of the Scott expedition to the South Pole, "PolarExploration is at once the cleanest and most isolated way of having abad time which has been devised." Cherry-Garrard's Read more

Reviews (43)

Gripping story!
This is an inspiring, suspenseful story full of rich detail about what life on The Ice was like for these brave men who spent almost 3 years there in the early years of this century, when sails were still used on ships.The beauty, richly described by Cherry; the torturous conditions at times, how they kept busy and sane during the long long dark winter....I was completely enthralled even though I knew at least the rough outlines of the story before I began.I highly recommend it.

Too cold!
These guys travelled in temperatures that you wouldn't think humans could survive for more than a few minutes. Some of the places they went were perhaps the worst I could imagine. I remember thinking these guys were K-Raz-ee.It's well worth the read.

Required reading for anyone interested in Antarctic history
I'm not quite sure who originally wrote that one of the convenient things about Antarctica is the fact that you only need to read a dozen books to know the history of the place and that, as an added bonus, you get the first-hand accounts of the original explorers.
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Subjects:  1. (1910-1913)    2. Antarctic regions    3. Antarctica    4. British    5. British Antarctic ("Terra Nova") Expedition    6. British Antarctic ('Terra Nova    7. Discovery And Exploration (General)    8. Discovery and exploration    9. Expeditions & Discoveries    10. History    11. History - General History    12. History: World    13. Polar Regions    14. United States - General   

Subjects:  1. Iraq War, 2003-    2. Journalism    3. Military - General    4. Oceania    5. Performing Arts    6. Performing Arts/Dance    7. Pop Arts / Pop Culture    8. Press coverage    9. Television - History & Criticism    10. Television broadcasting of news    11. United States    12. War    13. Media studies    14. Press & journalism    15. USA    16. Warfare & Defence   

Reviews (6)

Inspirational and Engaging Account
Although large in size, and filled with breathtaking photographs, this book includes so much more than the regular "picture book".Robyn's thoughtful words make you feel as if you are traveling right along with her and her famous camels.The story is engaging and heart-wrenching; and the reader runs through the same emotions that Robyn feels at each leg of the journey, from the tragedy of loss to the jubilation of completion.
Lovely, lovely book
The combination is a winner because of:
Incredibly beautiful
This book breaks all the boundaries - combining Photography, digital media and narrative to capture the wild spirit in us all. Makes me want to buy and camel and set off! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1950-    2. 20th Century Description And Travel    3. Australia    4. Australia/Oceania - Australia    5. Davidson, Robyn,    6. Description    7. Description and travel    8. Travel    9. Travel - Foreign    10. Davidson, Robyn    11. Journeys   

Reviews (1)

A genius for the clay arts--vessels to figures
This book is rich in content and visuals--loaded with examples of the finest clay works from PNG, along with pictures of their makers at work. These men and women were true artists. We are shown how coiling was done, and how a pot can be fashioned by the paddle and anvil technique--the two basic potmaking traditions of Melanesia.The authors include maps showing all villages with pot making industries at the time the first edition of this book came out in the early eighties, as well as then extinct villages that once were pottery producers. We are also shown the regions where men predominantly make pottery, others where it is the women, or where both collaborate in the process of making and decorating clay objects for utilitarian and ritual use. This is a completely informative and thoroughly enjoyable record of a remarkable tradition, far better than anything you could pull off the Web on the subject in facts and in details and in images. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Art    2. Art & Art Instruction    3. Ceramics    4. Criticism    5. History - General   

Reviews (9)

Natnats, hot sun, and dangerous men.
Four corners is a tale of a 24 year old woman's journey across Papua New Guinea. Her experience makes for a wonderful read, but she overworks the "finding herself" bit. Despite the self obsessive and all too frequent maudlin tangents, Salak writes in tight prose that grips the reader early in the book and doesn't let go until the second to last chapter (the last chapter is so sappy it brought the entire book from a solid 5 stars to a 4. It nearly morphed the read from high adventure to a "chick" book).
moving and insightful
(Memoir) Salak decides to travel across Papula
Great read!
I am leaving for my second trip to Papua New Guinea in little under a week. Ifound Salak's book to be a great read! I agree with another reviewer that her introspective thoughts became a bit redundant but all in all the book flowed well and was very interestingRead more

Subjects:  1. 1971-    2. Biography/Autobiography    3. Description and travel    4. General    5. Papua New Guinea    6. Salak, Kira,    7. Travel    8. Travel - General    9. Travelers' writings    10. Journeys    11. Salak, Kira    12. Memoir   

Reviews (2)

A Most Amazing Book
The first three "official" reviews of this book fail to convey the sheer original, revealing, even emotional nature of this book.Many Americans now accept that their patriotic Revolutionary ancestors--including the Founding Fathers--owned slaves.Some Americans are aware that many of these slaves fled to the British controlled areas and cities under the promise of gaining freedom. A few Americans may then know of what happened to these former slaves--how many were take off to Nova Scotia with thousands of white Loyalists. What Cassandra Pybus reveals in this book opens all this up into dimensions undreamed of by all but perhaps a literal handful of historians. And in fact, what she presents is more like a nightmare than a dream.In an impeccably researched and footnoted narrative, she first investigates those three relatively "knowns" that I referred to above, providing details that will astound most of us. And when she goes onto present the story of what happenened to most of these former slaves as they movd on not only to Nova Scotia and London but then on to Sierra Leone and Australia--well, it is history as revelation. Although Pybus stays rooted in the strictest procedures of the historian, the end effect is to feel you are reading a novel. But a novel describing events of such unnmitigated misery, of human suffering, of human cruelty, that no novelist would dare invent these happenings.I defy any reader to put the book down saying (a) "Oh, I had suspected all this might have happened" and (b) "In any case I can't see getting especially worked up over it."The end result is a book that both charges far more human beings than we have imagined with being cruel to African-Americans and at the same time informs us of how many of these same African-Americans endured these cruelties and utimately prevailed. In a word, I found it spellbinding!

A side of the American Revolution little known until now
While most American schoolchildren in the U.S. are taught of the American Revolution as a glorious struggle of backwoods colonials fighting for their freedom and independence against the world's most powerful empire, few, if any, are taught of the great tragedy experienced by African-Americans, many of them former slaves, who fought with or sided with the British in the hopes that they would secure their individual freedoms.I was one of those many schoolchildren inculcated in the myth of the Revolution, but I have since expanded my knowledge of the Revolution beyond the history texts.Despite this, I was not aware of the globe-circling stories of former slaves of the American Revolution as carefully documented and researched by Cassandra Pybus in "Epic Journeys of Freedom".But now that I am, I hope these stories become more widely known as examples of not only the failure of the American Revolution to live up to its ideals, but more important, as examples of the unquenchable human desire for freedom and the extent to which brave men and women will go to find it.
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Subjects:  1. 18th century    2. Australia    3. Ethnic Studies - African American Studies - General    4. Ethnic Studies - African American Studies - Histor    5. Fugitive slaves    6. History    7. History - General History    8. History: American    9. New South Wales    10. Sierra Leone    11. Slavery    12. Sociology    13. United States    14. United States - 18th Century    15. United States - Revolutionary War    16. History / United States / Revolutionary Period (1775-1800)   

Reviews (2)

From wasps to wallabies
John Alcock's status as the dean of animal behaviour studies is delightfully illustrated by this excellent book.A collection of over two dozen essays on the conduct of various animal [and one plant] species relate the findings of an Australian sabbatical.Using his own and other's research he poses questions arising from a medley of animal antics.How have these behaviours come about?He shows how these queries have adaptive evolutionary roots. The beauty of Darwin's idea, he reminds us, is that it provides us with "an adaptationist foundation" for testing hypotheses, arguments and ideas.Adaptations are subtle, often requiring careful perception and analysis.With careful study and cautious speculation he provides some stimulating ideas about the things he observed. entertaining book on Australian animal behavior
Written by American biologist John Alcock (along with excellent illustrations by Marilyn Hoff Stewart), this book chronicles Alcock animal observations throughout the land Down Under. Alcocok observed the intimate details of the birth, breeding habits, feeding habits, and sometimes death of a large variety of Australian birds, insects, and mammals. Each chapter devoted to a particular species, he covers not only well known species such as the kookaburra, flying fox, and platypus, but lesser known ones (at least to Americans), such as the northern logrunner, resin wasp, and silver gull. Read more

Subjects:  1. Adaptation (Biology)    2. Animal behavior    3. Animals    4. Australia    5. Evolution (Biology)    6. Natural History    7. Science/Mathematics   

Subjects:  1. Christianity - History - Protestant    2. Religion - Church History