Research Catalog

Title

A history of the Pacific Islands / Steven Roger Fischer.

Author

Fischer, Steven R.

Publication

Basingstoke, Hampshire [England] ; New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2013.

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Holdings

Details

Description

xxxii, 331 p. : maps; 23 cm.

Summary

• This study of the Pacific Islands provides a dynamic and provocative account of the peopling of the Pacific, and its broad impact on world history. Spanning nearly 50,000 years of human presence in an area which comprises one-third of our planet - Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia - the narrative follows the development of the region, from New Guinea's earliest settlement to the creation of the modern Pacific states. -Publlishers Description
• "This wide-ranging study of the Pacific Islands provides a dynamic and provocative account of the peopling of the Pacific, and its broad impact on world history. Spanning nearly 50,000 years of human presence in an area which comprises one-third of our planet - Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia - the narrative follows the development of the region, from New Guinea's earliest settlement to the creation of the modern Pacific states. It also examines the fascinating processes which have contributed to the formation of the hybrid Pacific we know today. [The book] traces the extraordinarily varied genealogy of all Pacific peoples, looking at their descent from Papuan tribesmen, Austronesian mariners and foreign colonists; examines the rich inheritance of the Islands as a consequence of succeeding waves of invading, then dominating peoples; and explores the effect on the region - as well as the corresponding global implications - of voyaging, whaling, pandemics, colonization, trade, exploitation, war, nuclear testing and nationhood. Informed by the most recent research and scholarship, Steven Roger Fischer's unique text provides a comprehensive yet concise overview of the Pacific Island's past. It is a highly accessible and invaluable introduction to the history of an area which is currently emerging as pivotal in international affairs." -- Publisher's description.

Series Statement

Palgrave essential histories

Uniform Title

Palgrave essential histories.

Subject

• Pacific Islanders
• Ethnology > Oceania
• Oceania > History
• History (Australasia)
• History

Genre/Form

History

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. 306-319) and index.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

The first islanders -- Melanesians, Micronesians, Polynesians -- The European trespass -- The second colonization -- New Pacific identities -- Pacific islanders in transit -- Reinventing Pacific Islands -- The 'New Pacific.'

ISBN

• 9780230362680 (hbk.)
• 0230362680 (hbk.)
• 9780230362697 (pbk.)
• 0230362699 (pbk.)

OCLC

823862875

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library