Australia & Oceania Books - Page 4

Batavia's Graveyard: The True Story of the Mad Heretic Who Led History's Bloodiest Mutiny

Mike Dash

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Subjects -> History -> Australia & Oceania -> Australia
Subjects -> History -> World -> 17th Century
Subjects -> History -> World -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 54 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

In 1629, the Dutch merchantman Batavia grounded on a desolate atoll near Western Australia. Of the 200 survivors, 115 were subsequently murdered, in coldest blood, by a group of the ship's sailors and their psychopathic leader, Jeronimus Corneliszoon. Batavia's Graveyard is Mike Dash's unnerving, measured account of the incident. The victims included children, babies, and pregnant women; the crimes took place over a period of several months. Though the killings make a substantial, chilling tale in themselves, Dash adroitly places the shocking spree in larger context with illuminating discussions of 17th century medical practices, religious heresy, global politics, and shipboard sociology and daily life. Additionally, he draws dozens of portraits of the participants in this ghastly drama, most fascinatingly that of Corneliszoon, who emerges as a grotesquely charismatic predecessor of the likes of Charles Manson and Ted Bundy. Batavia's Graveyard, a skillful melding of accessible scholarship and evenhanded narrative and of overview and telling detail, is a welcome achievement. --H. O'Billovitch

A Brief History of the Vikings: The Last Pagans or the First Modern Europeans? (Brief History Series)

Jonathan Clements

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Subjects -> History -> Australia & Oceania -> Polar Regions
Subjects -> History -> Europe -> Scandinavia
Subjects -> History -> World -> Medieval

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Between the eighth and eleventh centuries, the Vikings surged from their Scandinavian homeland to trade and raid along the coasts of Europe. Their influence extended from Newfoundland to Baghdad, their battles were as far-flung as Africa and the Arctic. But were they great seafarers or desperate outcasts, noble heathens or oafish pirates, the last pagans or the first of the modern Europeans? This concise study puts medieval chronicles, Norse sagas and Muslim accounts alongside more recent research into ritual magic, genetic profiling and climatology. It includes biographical sketches of some of the most famous Vikings, from Erik Bloodaxe to Saint Olaf, from King Canute to Leif the Lucky. Extending beyond the traditional ‘Viking age' of most books, A Brief History of the Vikings also places sudden Scandinavian population movements in a wider historical context. It presents a balanced appraisal of these infamous sea kings, explaining both their swift expansion and its supposed halt. Supposed because the Vikings never really went away. Instead, posits Clements, they became a part of who we are today.

Coming of Age in Samoa: A Psychological Study of Primitive Youth for Western Civilisation (Perennial Classics)

Margaret Mead

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Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Social Sciences -> Anthropology -> Cultural
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Social Sciences -> Anthropology -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 18 Average rating: 3.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Rarely do science and literature come together in the same book.  When they do -- as in Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species, for example -- they become classics, quoted and studied by scholars and the general public alike.

Margaret Mead accomplished this remarkable feat not once but several times, beginning with Coming of Age in Samoa.   It details her historic journey to American Samoa, taken where she was just twenty-three, where she did her first fieldwork.  Here, for the first time, she presented to the public the idea that the individual experience of developmental stages could be shaped by cultural demands and expectations.  Adolescence, she wrote, might be more or less stormy, and sexual development more or less problematic in different cultures.  The "civilized" world, she taught us had much to learn from the "primitive."  Now this groundbreaking, beautifully written work as been reissued for the centennial of her birth, featuring introductions by Mary Pipher and by Mead's daughter, Mary Catherine Bateson.

Ada BlackJack: A True Story of Survival in the Arctic

Jennifer Niven

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Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> Specific Groups -> Adventurers & Explorers
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> Specific Groups -> Women
Subjects -> Entertainment -> Puzzles & Games -> Gambling -> Blackjack

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 28 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Fascinating story 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

I loved this book. It joins a spate of other books constructed in much the same way. It is reminiscent of James Michner'ss books, with the construction of personal stories amid the history. The research she did was wonderful. It is interesting how one event can ripple out and connect with and touch so many other lives. This was not even what would be termed a particularly charged event (such as one that would garner world news coverage), yet led to connections everywhere. It is fascinating and she has done a wonderful job with it. I was fascinated with the historical beginnings of Chautauqua. In the present gas crunch it seems like they might be looking at bringing back the concept. What a delightful thought - to have all of that wonderful esoteric knowledge traveling all over the country.

The character of Ada was fascinating. A young Native American who, to hear the boys tell it, wanted nothing more that a white man. After escaping a marriage to an abusive previous husband she is looking for more stability in her life and dealing with a serious case of northern SAD. To make things worse she has not been raised as totally `native' as they thought she had. The general perceptions that regular society in general had for this woman were heartbreaking and incorrect. A sexuality that in an educated Caucasian society is viewed as normal becomes promiscuous in the Native American. Verbalization is different. The totemic thought form is different. I felt that the way the author dealt with these issues was wonderful. Rather than infuse the book with a condescending attitude she simply stated what had happened.

Ada was a strong woman but it seems that some of the troubles and betrayals she went through took a toll on her heart and health. I wonder if we as a society will ever figure out a way to `develop character' without beating people senseless. There was one line that was particularly moving.

I would recommend this book to anyone. It was wonderful and a great way to learn history. After reading this I'll have to read her first book.

Editorial Review:

Now in paperback, the gripping and inspiring tale of a woman's survival alone in the Arctic.

In 1921, four men and one woman ventured deep into the Arctic. Two years later, only one returned.

When 23-year-old Inuit Ada Blackjack signed on as a seamstress for a top-secret Arctic expedition, her goal was simple: earn money and find a husband. But her terrifying experiences -- both in the wild and back in civilization -- comprise one of the most amazing untold adventures of the 20th century. Based on a wealth of unpublished materials, including Ada's never-before-seen diaries, bestselling author Jennifer Niven narrates this true story of an unheralded woman who became an unlikely hero.

Aloha Betrayed: Native Hawaiian Resistance to American Colonialism (American Encounters/Global Interactions)

Noenoe Silva

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Subjects -> History -> Americas -> United States -> 19th Century -> General
Subjects -> History -> Americas -> United States -> State & Local -> Hawaii
Subjects -> History -> Americas -> United States -> State & Local -> West

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Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

In 1897, as a white oligarchy made plans to allow the United States to annex Hawai'i, native Hawaiians organized a massive petition drive to protest. Ninety-five percent of the native population signed the petition, causing the annexation treaty to fail in the U.S. Senate. This event was unknown to many contemporary Hawaiians until Noenoe K. Silva rediscovered the petition in the process of researching this book. With few exceptions, histories of Hawai'i have been based exclusively on English-language sources. They have not taken into account the thousands of pages of newspapers, books, and letters written in the mother tongue of native Hawaiians. By rigorously analyzing many of these documents, Silva fills a crucial gap in the historical record. In so doing, she refutes the long-held idea that native Hawaiians passively accepted the erosion of their culture and loss of their nation, showing that they actively resisted political, economic, linguistic, and cultural domination. Drawing on Hawaiian-language texts, primarily newspapers produced in the nineteenth century and early twentieth, Silva demonstrates that print media was central to social communication, political organizing, and the perpetuation of Hawaiian language and culture. A powerful critique of colonial historiography, Aloha Betrayed provides a much-needed history of native Hawaiian resistance to American imperialism.

The Ghost Mountain Boys: Their Epic March and the Terrifying Battle for New Guinea--The Forgotten War of the South Pacific

James Campbell

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Subjects -> History -> Asia -> Southeast Asia
Subjects -> History -> Australia & Oceania -> Papua New Guinea
Subjects -> History -> Military -> United States -> General

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Total reviews: 21 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Lying due north of Australia, New Guinea is among the world’s largest islands. In 1942, when World War II exploded onto its shores, it was an inhospitable, cursorily mapped, disease-ridden land of dense jungle, towering mountain peaks, deep valleys, and fetid swamps. Coveted by the Japanese for its strategic position, New Guinea became the site of one of the South Pacific’s most savage campaigns. Despite their lack of jungle training, the 32nd Division’s Ghost Mountain Boys were assigned the most grueling mission of the entire Pacific campaign: to march 130 miles over the rugged Owen Stanley Mountains and to protect the right flank of the Australian army as they fought to push the Japanese back to the village of Buna on New Guinea’s north coast.

Comprised of National Guardsmen from Michigan and Wisconsin, reserve officers, and draftees from across the country, the 32nd Division lacked more than training—they were without even the basics necessary for survival. The men were not issued the specialized clothing that later became standard issue for soldiers fighting in the South Pacific; they fought in hastily dyed combat fatigues that bled in the intense humidity and left them with festering sores. They waded through brush and vines without the aid of machetes. They did not have insect repellent. Without waterproof containers, their matches were useless and the quinine and vitamin pills they carried, as well as salt and chlorination tablets, crumbled in their pockets. Exhausted and pushed to the brink of human endurance, the Ghost Mountain Boys fell victim to malnutrition and disease. Forty-two days after they set out, they arrived two miles south of Buna, nearly shattered by the experience.

Arrival in Buna provided no respite. The 32nd Division was ordered to launch an immediate assault on the Japanese position. After two months of furious—sometimes hand-to-hand—combat, the decimated division finally achieved victory. The ferocity of the struggle for Buna was summed up in Time magazine on December 28, 1942, three weeks before the Japanese army was defeated: “Nowhere in the world today are American soldiers engaged in fighting so desperate, so merciless, so bitter, or so bloody.”

Reminiscent of classics like Band of Brothers and The Things They Carried, this harrowing portrait of a largely overlooked campaign is part war diary, part extreme adventure tale, and (through letters, journals, and interviews) part biography of a group of men who fought to survive in an environment every bit as fierce as the enemy they faced.

History of United States Naval Operations in World War II. Vol. 8: New Guinea and the Marianas, March 1944-August 1944 (History of United States Naval Operations in World War II)

Samuel Eliot Morison

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Subjects -> History -> Military -> Naval
Subjects -> History -> Military -> United States -> General

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Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

This installment of Samuel Eliot Morison's insider history of the U.S. Navy covers five of the most eventful months of the Pacific war, March through July 1944. Awash with spectacular rescues of downed airmen, bold beach landings, and brilliant though risky strategic gambles, this volume carries Morison's coverage of the war in the Pacific through the Allies' securing of Dutch New Guinea and the Marianas.

The three assaults that comprised Operation "Forager"--in which Morison participated--add up to one of the most important amphibious operations in history: protracted, bitterly contested, requiring great flexibility as well as fortitude. The development of powerful new weapons and sophisticated new tactics, together with the greatly extended distance of active operations from continental bases, rendered naval operations more vast and more complicated than ever before in history.

After nearly two years of bitter and almost continuous fighting, the Allies have broken the Bismarcks Barrier, conquered key Japanese positions in the Gilbert and Marshall Islands, and cleared the way for an advance along the New Guinea-Mindanao axis. General MacArthur is intent on his one road to Tokyo, but Combined Chiefs of Staff decide to send Admiral Nimitz and the Pacific Fleet on a second, northern route, parallel to MacArthur's. Morison follows MacArthur's Southwest Pacific Forces in a series of bold leaps to Holandiak, Wakde, Biak, and the Vogelkop, also covering Pacific Fleet operations from the end of the Marshall Islands campaign to the recovery of Guam.

Antarctica: Secrets of the Southern Continent

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Subjects -> History -> Australia & Oceania -> Polar Regions
Subjects -> Outdoors & Nature -> Ecosystems -> Arctic
Subjects -> Outdoors & Nature -> Reference

Editorial Review:

The geology, ecology and biology of the "continent for peace and science."

This comprehensive, fully illustrated and reader-friendly book honors the International Polar Year (2007-08) with a spectacular range of information on Antarctica and the Antarctic Islands, the world's harshest environment.

Antarctica features up-to-date material from an expert team of scientists, expeditioners and historians. Included are more than 600 photographs, illustrations and maps. Among the topics covered are:

• Prehistory of Antarctica
• Geology and geography
• Flora and fauna
• Climate and the nature of ice
• The Antarctic ozone hole
• The explorers
• Current scientific research
• Conservation issues
• The impact of global warming
• The Sub-Antarctic Islands.

Detailed information is found on current issues of land, law and treaties, shipping, resource exploitation, and tourism. Also included are the Antarctic Treaty, a gazetteer and a bibliography.

Front-page news reports cover the relative health of Antarctica. This authoritative book could not be timelier.

Remember World War II: Kids Who Survived Tell Their Stories (Remember)

Dorinda Makanaonalani Nicholson

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Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> Ethnic & National -> Jewish
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Ages 9-12 -> General
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Ages 9-12 -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

AMAZING PERSONAL STORIES OF SURVIVORS! 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I am especially fond of this book because my mother-in-law tells her story as a 6 year old child living in Pearl Harbor and recounts her memories of the bombing. The inclusion of these "personal" accounts of war makes you consider things that you may not have considered before... like a mother trying to maintain her composure while her husband leaves for duty all the while keeping small children quiet, safe, and in complete darkness at night... As children, they have memories that they did not totally understand until they were adults and pieced the pieces together of what had happened. There are many other personal accounts of the tragedies of WWII and the book includes many personal photos, maps, and a war timeline that describes the events that took place. The timeline would be an especially useful source for youth preparing a school presentation or project about WWII.

It is not a long, excessively detailed book (only 61 pages) but is perfect for youth and provides an understanding that they can relate to since the stories told are told by adults who experienced the events as children. As an adult, I, too have enjoyed this book very much, as well as my kids (elementary and middle school ages).

AC/DC: Maximum Rock & Roll: The Ultimate Story of the World's Greatest Rock-and-Roll Band

Murray Engleheart, Arnaud Durieux

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Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> Arts & Literature -> Composers & Musicians -> Rock
Subjects -> Entertainment -> Music -> History & Criticism
Subjects -> Entertainment -> Music -> Musical Genres -> Rock

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 21 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Over three decades and more than 150 million albums, AC/DC has established itself as much more than just a great rock band. For millions of fans spanning several generations across the world, they are an ear-bleedingly loud, sweat-soaked religion, courtesy of such classic albums as Highway to Hell and Back in Black.

Now, in a book of astonishing breadth and scope, comes, for the very first time, the complete story of AC/DC. Everything you ever wanted to know and plenty more you never dreamt of is all here, the ultimate balls-out adventure, laced with sex, drunken escapades and brawls. It's a journey that started in the suburban Sydney, Australia, bedrooms of brothers Malcolm and Angus Young, boys who could wreak havoc with their guitars. Over their power chords were the lyrics and voice of Bon Scott, who would lead them higher and higher—until his tragic death in 1980. The bittersweet irony after his death was that not only did the Youngs manage to hold together without him, but the band's fortunes and status skyrocketed with his replacement, Brian Johnson, and the album Back in Black.

Five long years in the making, AC/DC: Maximum Rock & Roll is sourced from more than 1,300 interviews the band has given over the past thirty years combined with in excess of 75 of the authors' own interviews with those who worked with AC/DC both in the studio and on the road—many of whom have never spoken about the band publicly. It's topped off with stunning, never-before-seen photos to create the ultimate portrait of the ultimate rock band.