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Best Fiji History

Fiji's natural heritage
Paddy Ryan’s text is packed with fascinating biological facts and features, as well as many engaging anecdotes detailing encounters with his subjects including the grey reef shark, the crested and the banded iguana, the fiddler crab (which signals frantically to potential mates with its enlarged chela or claw), the frigate bird (an aerial pirate), and Fiji’s national flower, the tagimaucia. Superb comprehensive guide anyone with curiosity is constantly seeking, and rarely finds, that will be constantly consulted and treasured.
Reviews
"These are the categories covered: Coral. Worms. Mollusks. Echinoderms. Crustaceans. Insects. Fish. Amphibia. Reptiles. Birds. Mammals. Plants. The Fijians. Places to visit. The commentary is thorough and detailed."
"Fiji's Natural Heritage was the first comprehensive book on Fiji Natural History ever published."
"Simply there is no other book on Fiji that matches the expertise of Dr Ryan's knowledge and the brilliance of his photography."
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Dodging Machetes: How I Survived Forbidden Love, Bad Behavior, and the Peace Corps in Fiji
Will Lutwick, a quirky misfit, gets an MBA at 22, but soon realizes he and the American corporate world are a horrid mismatch. Will finds himself attracted to prohibited pulchritude when Rani Gupta, a beautiful, rebellious 20-year-old from a traditional Hindu family, begins working in his office. Lutwick deliciously skewers his own behavior and satirizes the people, practices, and protocols he encounters in Fiji and in backstory about his youth. "In his beautifully written memoir...he relays these memories with neither bitterness nor self-serving pity--just a good dose of humor and intelligence...He shares thoughtful insight into Fiji's exotic history and society...Off-the-charts hysterical. "An eye-opening story about love, loss, and discrimination...Not only is this an exciting memoir, but it's a great modern day Romeo and Juliet tale. -- JULIA SCHEERES, Award-winning, New York Times bestselling author of Jesus Land and A Thousand Lives: The Untold Story of Hope, Deception, and Survival at Jonestown.
Reviews
"It's not great literature, but it's enjoyable and full of recognizable impressions of Fiji (I lived there for nine months 1993-4)."
"In fact, the comparision to Annie Hall is an apt one, because not only is that movie, like Dodging Machetes, about lovers who come from very different worlds, but the story is told through a narrator with a distinctively Jewish sensibility about a unique, attractive and, to him, exotic love-object. So let us call Dodging Machetes a literary Annie Hall, set in a place as foreign to many Americans as New York City, the island of Fiji, and told about the romance he will never forget, not with a goofy Wisconsin-bred Christian girl, but rather with a willful, ethnically Indian Hindu. Indeed, if Annie Hall is the star of the movie Annie Hall, because of her quirky, fun personality and her one-of-a-kind style, then Rani Gupta is the star of Dodging Machetes, because of her strong will, her admirable bravery, her recklessness, and her downright sexiness."
"I heartily recommend this book on many different levels: to get a taste of our youth culture in the 1960's, to learn how the U.S pushed its values onto the world, and to enjoy quite simply the universal love story in a not-so-universal set of circumstances."
"It is a well written memoir of his Peace Corps experience. I feel his writing is a fine representation of a Peace Corps experience in the early seventies with a wonderful story to boot."
"His stories of growing up in Richmond hit home; particularly the parts about how our generation was raised with "Spare the Rod and Spoil the Child" as a rationale for what would later be called abuse."
"Will does a great job of sharing pieces of his childhood while focusing on his crazy adventure in Fiji."
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Kava in the Blood: A Personal & Political Memoir from the Heart of Fiji
The EH McCormick Award for the Best First Book of Non Fiction, sponsored by the New Zealand Society of Authors (PEN Inc) and Creative New Zealand, goes to Kava in the Blood by Peter Thomson." Peter Thomson, born in Suva, Fiji in 1948 is a Fiji diplomat and is currently the Special Ocean Envoy to the United Nations.
Reviews
"A wonderfully written piece of work, embedded with numerous memories of Fiji and concise chronological description of the post-coup happenings."
"The Pacific preference for oral story telling rather than putting down thoughts and facts on paper has left us with very little in writing on the important political and social developments of this region."
"I read Peter Thomsons first edition of Kava in the Blood and really enjoyed it, but was most excited to find the new edition with photos and illustrations (definitely a huge improvement)."
"TO know what happened in the country I was born."
"Anyone living in the Pacific region needs to read this book to help understand what makes Fiji and the Pacific so unigue."
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Best Oceania History

Lost in Shangri-La
Fans of Hampton Sides’ Ghost Soldiers , Marcus Luttrell’s Lone Survivor , and David Grann’s The Lost Cityof Z will be captivated by Zuckoff’s masterfullyrecounted, all-true story of danger, daring, determination, and discovery injungle-clad New Guinea during the final days of WWII. Amazon Best Books of the Month, May 2011 : Near the end of World War II, a plane carrying 24 members of the United States military, including nine Women’s Army Corps (WAC) members, crashed into the New Guinea jungle during a sightseeing excursion. The three survivors--a beautiful WAC, a young lieutenant who lost his twin brother in the crash, and a severely injured sergeant--were stranded deep in a jungle valley notorious for its cannibalistic tribes. Faced with the potential brutality of the Dani tribe, known throughout the valley for its violence, the trio’s lives were dependent on an unprecedented rescue mission--a dedicated group of paratroopers jumped into the jungle to provide aid and medical care, consequently leaving the survivors and paratroopers alike trapped on the jungle floor. A perilous rescue by plane became their only possible route to freedom. Hampton Sides is the editor-at-large for Outside magazine and the author of the international bestseller Ghost Soldiers , which won the 2002 PEN USA Award for nonfiction and the 2002 Discover Award from Barnes & Noble, and also served as the basis for the 2005 Miramax film The Great Raid . They’re puzzled and fascinated by the layers of “removable skin” in which these alien visitors are wrapped; the natives, who smear their bodies in pig grease and cover their genitals with gourds, have never seen clothes before. But when armed American airmen arrive via parachute to rescue the survivors, relations become more tense.
Reviews
"This is a good book to past your time and amazingly it was a true story."
"Only criticism: the story is based largely on the survivors' testimony, which leaves you wondering whether that's REALLY how things happened."
"However, I believe that some who read the military genre of books may find this style of writing a bit long drawn out and over done. Those kind of readers prefer the names of the characters, their roles, military actions, and perhaps soldier/veteran narratives of the battle as it unfolded. Walters, the air-to-ground communications, newspaper accounts, letters, interviews, and many more sources to create a full length detailed story. Zuckoff's notes section is fairly strong in listing his source materials that make up his chapters. Compared to all the in depth biographical information given the reader, the glider history and "snatch" technique was a bit weak, but puts forth a good effort in explaining both. The challenge, as the book portrays, was the flying distance to the site and back, as well as, the elevation at which the mission was to be undertaken and its effects on the aircraft/glider at those heights."
"This is a really good historical account of an event I never heard of."
"Interesting book."
"Little detail after the rescue is reported and the book ends with rescue, save the epilogue. While Zuckoff includes plenty of photo documentation, an illustration/map of the base camp and survivor's bivouac and relationship or distance to the crash-site would have been helpful."
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Best Papua New Guinea History

Lost in Shangri-La
Fans of Hampton Sides’ Ghost Soldiers , Marcus Luttrell’s Lone Survivor , and David Grann’s The Lost Cityof Z will be captivated by Zuckoff’s masterfullyrecounted, all-true story of danger, daring, determination, and discovery injungle-clad New Guinea during the final days of WWII. Amazon Best Books of the Month, May 2011 : Near the end of World War II, a plane carrying 24 members of the United States military, including nine Women’s Army Corps (WAC) members, crashed into the New Guinea jungle during a sightseeing excursion. The three survivors--a beautiful WAC, a young lieutenant who lost his twin brother in the crash, and a severely injured sergeant--were stranded deep in a jungle valley notorious for its cannibalistic tribes. Faced with the potential brutality of the Dani tribe, known throughout the valley for its violence, the trio’s lives were dependent on an unprecedented rescue mission--a dedicated group of paratroopers jumped into the jungle to provide aid and medical care, consequently leaving the survivors and paratroopers alike trapped on the jungle floor. A perilous rescue by plane became their only possible route to freedom. Hampton Sides is the editor-at-large for Outside magazine and the author of the international bestseller Ghost Soldiers , which won the 2002 PEN USA Award for nonfiction and the 2002 Discover Award from Barnes & Noble, and also served as the basis for the 2005 Miramax film The Great Raid . They’re puzzled and fascinated by the layers of “removable skin” in which these alien visitors are wrapped; the natives, who smear their bodies in pig grease and cover their genitals with gourds, have never seen clothes before. But when armed American airmen arrive via parachute to rescue the survivors, relations become more tense.
Reviews
"This is a good book to past your time and amazingly it was a true story."
"Only criticism: the story is based largely on the survivors' testimony, which leaves you wondering whether that's REALLY how things happened."
"It is a good read, but has a sense of anti climax about half way through."
"However, I believe that some who read the military genre of books may find this style of writing a bit long drawn out and over done. Those kind of readers prefer the names of the characters, their roles, military actions, and perhaps soldier/veteran narratives of the battle as it unfolded. Walters, the air-to-ground communications, newspaper accounts, letters, interviews, and many more sources to create a full length detailed story. Zuckoff's notes section is fairly strong in listing his source materials that make up his chapters. Compared to all the in depth biographical information given the reader, the glider history and "snatch" technique was a bit weak, but puts forth a good effort in explaining both. The challenge, as the book portrays, was the flying distance to the site and back, as well as, the elevation at which the mission was to be undertaken and its effects on the aircraft/glider at those heights."
"This is a really good historical account of an event I never heard of."
"Interesting book."
"Little detail after the rescue is reported and the book ends with rescue, save the epilogue. While Zuckoff includes plenty of photo documentation, an illustration/map of the base camp and survivor's bivouac and relationship or distance to the crash-site would have been helpful."
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Best Marshall Islands History

Bravo for the Marshallese: Regaining Control in a Post-Nuclear, Post-Colonial World (Case Studies on Contemporary Social Issues)
This case study describes the role an applied anthropologist takes to help Marshallese communities understand the impact of radiation exposure on the environment and themselves, and addresses problems stemming from the U.S. nuclear weapons testing program conducted in the Marshall Islands from 1946-1958. Holly M. Barker began her work with the Marshallese when she served as a Peace Corps volunteer from 1988 to 1990 on Mili Atoll in the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI).
Reviews
"Got exactly what I expected: clean nice book, no pages missing, no tears 👌👌."
"This book will certainly change your opinion on U.S. relations as well as Nuclear Power."
"i havent read it yet but i needed it for one of my classes and i got it so quick!"
"Very important read that most people have no idea of the story of."
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Best Australia & New Zealand History

Helmet for My Pillow: From Parris Island to the Pacific
Recounting his service with the 1st Marine Division and the brutal action on Guadalcanal, New Britain, and Peleliu, Leckie spares no detail of the horrors and sacrifices of war, painting an unvarnished portrait of how real warriors are made, fight, and often die in the defense of their country. Helmet for My Pillow (Random House, 1957) was his first book; it received the Marine Corps. Combat Correspondents Association award upon publication.
Reviews
"A strongly independent thinking civilian who, immediately after Pearl Harbour, volunteers for the toughest duty, Robert Leckie tells his story of Marine boot camp and the Guadalcanal, New Britain and Pelielu campaigns."
"Seemingly sincere account of the Pacific campaign from a cynical Marine who participated in some great battles."
"Having already watched The Pacific, and having read With the Old Breed, I figured this book would just be yet another play by play of one man's war experience."
"I had heard much about this book, but I found it disappointing."
"A good book that provided insight into the Pacific war from the perspective of one who survived even though he lost most of his friends in the various campaigns."
"Leckie gives a candid account of his war adventures, and maintained my interest, but this book pales alongside "With the Old Breed at Peleliu and Okinawa, by E.B."
"For those of us who know sacrifice in combat - respect for its truthful accounting."
"Highly recommended for those who can tolerate an unromanticized, realistic view of the comedies, tragedies, and sickening horrors of war."
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