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Books > History > Australasian & Pacific history
Located in the Blue Mountains southwest of Sydney, the Blue Plateau is a contrary collection of canyons and creeks, cow paddocks and eucalyptus forests, the first people and ranchers. This book reveals the plateau through its inhabitants: the Gundungurra people who were there first and still remain; the Maxwell family, who tried, but failed, to tame the land; the affable, impoverished, often drunken ranchers and firefighters; and the author himself, a poet trying to insinuate his citified self into a rugged landscape defined by drought, fire, and scarcity. Like the works of Peter Mathiessen, Barry Lopez, and William Least Heat-Moon, "The Blue Plateau" is a deep examination of place that transcends genre, incorporating poetry, people's history, ecology, mythology, and memoir to reveal how humanity and nature intertwine to create a home. Elegiac and intimately composed, this vivid portrait of a rugged wilds expands readers' sense of the place they call home.
Professor Iriye analyses the origins of the 1941 conflict against the background of international relations in the preceding decade in order to answer the key question: Why did Japan, which had not been able to defeat the isolated and divided forces of China, decide to go to war against so formidable a combination of powers?
A book about the past and present Pacific Islands, wide-ranging in time and space spanning the centuries from the first settlement of the islands until the present day.
'Of all the books about the ground war in the Pacific, (With the Old Breed) is the closest to a masterpiece.' - The New York Review of Books 'One of the most arresting documents in war literature.' - John Keegan, in The Second World War E.B. Sledge's memoir of his experience fighting in the South Pacific during World War II is powerful because of its honesty and compassion. With the Old Breed presents a stirring, personal account of the bravery of the Marines in the battles at Peleliu and Okinawa. Eugene Bondurant Sledge 'Sledgehammer' joined the Marines the year after the bombing of Pearl Harbour and from 1943 to 1946 endured the events recorded in this book. Sledge enlisted out of patriotism and youthful courage but once he landed on the beach at Peleliu, it was purely a struggle for survival. Based on the notes he kept on slips of paper tucked secretly away in his New Testament, he simply and directly recalls those long months, mincing no words and sparing no pain. The reality of battle meant unbearable heat, deafening gunfire, unimaginable brutality and, above all, constant fear. Sledge still has nightmares about 'the bloody, muddy month of May on Okinawa.' He also tellingly reveals the bonds of friendship formed that will never be severed. Sledge's account of other marines, even complete strangers, sets him apart as a memoirist of war. Read as sobering history or as high adventure, this is a moving chronicle of action and courage. About the Author E. B. Sledge was born and grew up in Mobile, Alabama. His father, a physician, taught him to hunt and to describe his surroundings. Sledge enlisted in the US Marine Corps and was sent to the Pacific Theatre. He fought at Peleliu and Okinawa where some of the fiercest battles of WWII took place. Although he survived it took him years to recover from the psychological wounds from that experience. He has since pursued his studies in all manner of subjects, earning a PhD in Zoology at the University of Florida.
The Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation was formally established in 1997 under the leadership of South Africa, India and Australia. The demise of Apartheid, the fall of the Soviet empire, and the rapid advance of globalization altered the geopolitics of the Indian Ocean region in the early 1990s and served as a catalyst in the creation of the IOR. This book contextualizes the founding of the IOR by outlining the historical aspects of economic ties across the Indian Ocean and previous attempts to promote regional cooperation. The contributors to this volume analyse the post-colonial ideological legacy, the political and economic constraints caused by Apartheid and communism, the end of protectionism and the problem of globalization. These major themes in the history of the IOR are applied to what the future holds for Southern Africa within this economic grouping, and whether or not regional cooperation will manage to compete with globalization. This volume will be of interest to scholars of development studies, international relations, Third World studies, and regional development.
Spanning the late 18th century to the present, this volume explores new directions in imperial and postcolonial histories of conciliation, performance, and conflict between European colonizers and Indigenous peoples in Australia and the Pacific Rim, including Aotearoa New Zealand, Hawaii and the Northwest Pacific Coast. It examines cultural "rituals" and objects; the re-enactments of various events and encounters of exchange, conciliation and diplomacy that occurred on colonial frontiers between non-Indigenous and Indigenous peoples; commemorations of historic events; and how the histories of colonial conflict and conciliation are politicized in nation-building and national identities.
In 1938, the anthropologist Norman Tindale gave a classroom of young Aboriginal children a set of crayons and asked them to draw. The children, residents of the government-run Aboriginal station Cummeragunja, mostly drew pictures of aspects of white civilization boats, houses and flowers. What now to make of their artwork? Were the children encouraged or pressured to draw non-Aboriginal scenes, or did they draw freely, appropriating the white culture they now lived within? Did their Aboriginality change the meaning of their art, as they sketched out this ubiquitous colonial imagery? Australian Settler Colonialism and the Cummeragunja Aboriginal Station traces Cummeragunja's history from its establishment in the 1880s to its mass walk-off in 1939 and finally, to the 1960s, when its residents regained greater control over the land. Taking in oral history traditions, the author reveals the competing interests of settler governments, scientific and religious organizations, and nearby settler communities. The nature of these interests has broad and important implications for understanding settler colonial history. This history shows white people set boundaries on Aboriginal behaviour and movement, through direct legislation and the provision of opportunities and acceptance. But Aboriginal people had agency within and, at times, beyond these limits. Aboriginal people appropriated aspects of white culture including the houses, the flowers and the boats that their children drew for Tindale - reshaping them into new tools for Aboriginal society, tools with which to build lives and futures in a changed environment.
The definitive portrait of Pol Pot, the enigmatic man behind the most terrifying regime of modern times Pol Pot was an idealistic, reclusive figure with great charisma and personal charm. He initiated a revolution whose radical egalitarianism exceeded any other in history. But in the process, Cambodia desended into madness and his name became a byword for oppression. In the three-and-a-half years of his rule, more than a million people, a fifth of Cambodia's population, were executed or died from hunger and disease. A supposedly gentle, carefree land of slumbering temples and smiling peasants became a concentration camp of the mind, a slave state in which absolute obedience was enforced on the 'killing fields'. Why did it happen? How did an idealistic dream of justice and prosperity mutate into one of humanity's worst nightmares? Philip Short, the biographer of Mao, has spent four years travelling the length Cambodia, interviewing surviving leaders of Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge movement and sifting through previously closed archives. of lesser figures speak for the first time at length about their beliefs and motives.
This book contributes to the global turn in First World War studies by exploring Australians' engagements with the conflict across varied boundaries and by situating Australian voices and perspectives within broader, more complex contexts. This diverse and multifaceted collection includes chapters on the composition and contribution of the Australian Imperial Force, the experiences of prisoners of war, nurses and Red Cross workers, the resonances of overseas events for Australians at home, and the cultural legacies of the war through remembrance and representation. The local-global framework provides a fresh lens through which to view Australian connections with the Great War, demonstrating that there is still much to be said about this cataclysmic event in modern history.
Interest in bush foods is booming. From Warrigal greens and saltbush, to kangaroo and yabbies, more and more growers' markets and local supermarkets are stocking these foods, and restaurants are serving them on their menus. This short companion book to the award-winning The Oldest Foods on Earth shows you how to cook with Australian ingredients, where to find them and how to grow them. Organised by ingredient, each chapter includes a brief history, a practical guide, and recipes for you to make in your very own kitchen. This updated edition includes brand new recipes from First Nations chefs and an updated resources section with nurseries and suppliers. It promises to broaden Australians' culinary horizons in every way.
The Chinese Hsinhai Revolution explores and explains for the first time the important role of G. E. Morrison in great power diplomacy in China from the end of the Russo-Japanese War to the overthrow of the Qing Dynasty. The work is based on a wide range of multinational scholarly sources and in order to develop the context in which Morrison carried out his personal diplomacy and to delineate the many-sided story into which Morrison has to be placed, Woodhouse has in addition to mining the very rich Morrison collection, drawn upon British, Japanese and American personal and official materials.
Baby booms have a long history. In 1870, colonial Melbourne was 'perspiring juvenile humanity' with an astonishing 42 per cent of the city's inhabitants aged 14 and under - a demographic anomaly resulting from the gold rushes of the 1850s. Within this context, Simon Sleight enters the heated debate concerning the future prospects of 'Young Australia' and the place of the colonial child within the incipient Australian nation. Looking beyond those institutional sites so often assessed by historians of childhood, he ranges across the outdoor city to chart the relationship between a discourse about youth, youthful experience and the shaping of new urban spaces. Play, street work, consumerism, courtship, gang-related activities and public parades are examined using a plethora of historical sources to reveal a hitherto hidden layer of city life. Capturing the voices of young people as well as those of their parents, Sleight alerts us to the ways in which young people shaped the emergent metropolis by appropriating space and attempting to impress upon the city their own desires. Here a dynamic youth culture flourished well before the discovery of the 'teenager' in the mid-twentieth century; here young people and the city grew up together.
The New Zealand Wars of 1845-72 were a series of bitter and bloody conflicts between Maori and Pakeha that extended from Wairau to the Bay of Islands, and from Taranaki to the East Cape. They are as important to New Zealand as the civil wars were to England and to the United States. Land and sovereignty were at their heart. This major book visits Te Papa's rich Matauranga Maori, History and Art collections to explore the material and visual culture, taonga and artefacts connected with key events and players associated with the Wars. The stories of its over 300 powerful objects - ranging from weapons and paintings to photographs and soldiers' letters - help us understand why the wars occurred and why their legacy continues to resonate. In addition, topical essays by leading Maori scholars and historians bring a depth of perspective and expertise.
The Napoleonic era was a period of major transition. During this time, the explorer Nicolas Baudin made a voyage to Australia and made an unscheduled stop in Sydney where he restructured the expedition. Starbuck examines Baudin's captainship, life on board the ship, the details of the stop in Port Jackson, and the 'new voyage' that followed.
War on Corruption: An Indonesian Experience is a courageous, informed, and sober insider's account of the challenge for democracy and the rule of law within the fourth most populous nation.Corruption is a huge problem in Indonesia. Some reasons are easy to identify and flow on from the authoritarianism of the Soeharto New Order. Other factors are less apparent. As Todung Mulya Lubis, one of Indonesia's leading human rights lawyers and most influential legal thinkers, explains, 'Now corruptors come from the legislature, government, judiciary, and business communities, and they are not simply thieves but rent-seekers, benefiting from rapid economic development and weak law enforcement'. In his telling, the best efforts of the most unswerving and talented corruption fighters in Indonesia have been frustrated since the Soeharto regime was overthrown a generation ago. But as Todung also shows, there have recently been many successful prosecutions of corrupt officials, from the lowest levels to the very upper echelons of government and society. The creation of the Indonesian Corruption Eradication Commission, the KPK, in 2003, was an inspired move. For all its problems, arising from both internal dynamics and the often hostile social and institutional environments in which it has operated, the legal independence and dogged idealism of the KPK have made it a genuine force for renewal.
In this book, Philip Payton provides a vivid insight into the experiences of regional Australia during the Great War of 1914-18. Alighting upon 'old Kio', the copper-mining communities of South Australia's northern Yorke Peninsula, he describes the relationship between the 'homefront' and the 'battlefront' half-a-world away. He draws an intimate portrait of Australia at war, from the lives (and deaths) of local soldiers-all volunteers-in the trenches far from home to the myriad reactions and activities of those in a community struggling to grasp the enormity of the situation in which it found itself. The book shows how community cohesion was fractured by increasing tensions and divisions, not least over the Conscription debate, as the war dragged on. And it shows how those volunteer soldiers fared in each of the great battles in which the Australians participated-from Gallipoli to the Western Front and the heady days of 1918.
Shipwreck, storms, death and danger and the race to beat the French
This book is about Australian aircrew in Europe during World War II and draws on extensive field research, including over two hundred interviews with survivors. The fact that the Australians were spread so widely across so many squadrons has contributed to substantial oversights, both in the official histories and in the literature on the field. Flyers Far Away redresses this imbalance and accords those largely forgotten Australian airmen a rightful place in the history of the European air war. Flyers Far Away describes how so many Australian airmen ended up in Western Europe fighting an Allied cause, in one of the bloodiest and most unforgiving campaigns of the Second World War. Using first-hand accounts from the surviving airmen, it traces their path from recruitment in Australia to operations over the Third Reich and Axis territories. For the first time, the exploits of all Australian aircrew, in Fighter, Bomber, Coastal and Tactical Air Force Commands are brought together in one volume.
A moving account of Hawaii's most culturally significant stories, presented by King David Kalakaua. The Legends and Myths of Hawaii introduces readers to the social, historical, and religious customs of native Hawaiians, revealing the history of a culture that, for many years, functioned without outside influence. Chapters on leaders such as "Hina, the Helen of Hawaii," "Hua, King of Hana," and "Kelea, the Surf-Rider of Maui" illustrate Hawaii's most important tales and traditions. Originally published in 1888, King David Kalakaua's book remains a compelling and enduring collection of the archipelago's most memorable tales. With an eye-catching new cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of The Legends and Myths of Hawaii is specially designed for modern readers.
Dan van der Vat's naval histories have been acclaimed on both sides of the Atlantic as "definitive," "extraordinary," and "vivid and harrowing." Now he turns to the greatest naval conflict in history: the Pacific campaign of World War II. Drawing on neglected archives of firsthand accounts from both sides, van der Vat interweaves eyewitness testimony with sharp, analytical narration to provide a penetrating reappraisal of the strategic and political background of both the Japanese and American forces, as well as a major reassessment of the role of intelligence on both sides. A comprehensive evaluation of all aspects of the war in the Pacific, The Pacific Campaign promises to be the standard work on the U.S.-Japanese war for years to come.
History, heritage, and colonialism explores the politics of history-making and interest in preserving the material remnants of the past in late-nineteenth and early-twentieth-century colonial society, looking at both indigenous pasts and those of European origin. Focusing on New Zealand, but also covering the Australian and Canadian experiences, it explores how different groups and political interests have sought to harness historical narrative in support of competing visions of identity and memory. Considering this within the frames of the local and national as well as of empire, the book offers a valuable critique of the study of colonial identity-making and cultures of colonisation. This book offers important insights for societies negotiating the legacy of a colonial past in a global present, and will be of particular value to all those concerned with museum, heritage, and tourism studies, as well as imperial history. -- .
Aloha Compadre: Latinxs in Hawaiʻi is the first book to examine the collective history and contemporary experiences of the Latinx population of Hawaiʻi. This study reveals that contrary to popular discourse, Latinx migration to Hawaiʻi is not a recent event. In the national memory of the United States, for example, the Latinx population of Hawaiʻi is often portrayed as recent arrivals and not as long-term historical communities with a presence that precedes the formation of statehood itself. Historically speaking, Latinxs have been voyaging to the Hawaiian Islands for over one hundred and ninety years. From the early 1830s to the present, they continue to help shape Hawaiʻi’s history, yet their contributions are often overlooked. Latinxs have been a part of the cultural landscape of Hawaiʻi prior to annexation, territorial status, and statehood in 1959. Aloha Compadre also explores the expanding boundaries of Latinx migration beyond the western hemisphere and into Oceania.
Using Australian history as a case study, this collection explores the ways national identities still resonate in historical scholarship and reexamines key moments in Australian history through a transnational lens, raising important questions about the unique context of Australia's national narrative. The book examines the tension between national and transnational perspectives, attempting to internationalize the often parochial nation-based narratives that characterize national history. Moving from the local and personal to the global, encompassing comparative and international research and drawing on the experiences of researchers working across nations and communities, this collection brings together diverging national and transnational approaches and asks several critical research questions: What is transnational history? How do new transnational readings of the past challenge conventional national narratives and approaches? What are implications of transnational and international approaches on Australian history? What possibilities do they bring to the discipline? What are their limitations? And finally, how do we understand the nation in this transnational moment?
This book considers how Samoans embraced and reshaped the English game of cricket, recasting it as a distinctively Samoan pastime, kirikiti. Starting with cricket's introduction to the islands in 1879, it uses both cricket and kirikiti to trace six decades of contest between and within the categories of 'colonisers' and 'colonised.' How and why did Samoans adapt and appropriate the imperial game? How did officials, missionaries, colonists, soldiers and those with mixed foreign and Samoan heritage understand and respond to the real and symbolic challenges kirikiti presented? And how did Samoans use both games to navigate foreign colonialism(s)? By investigating these questions, Benjamin Sacks suggests alternative frameworks for conceptualising sporting transfer and adoption, and advances understandings of how power, politics and identity were manifested through sport, in Samoa and across the globe.
A Decent Provision is a narrative history of how and why Australia built a distinctive welfare regime in the period from the 1870s to 1949. At the beginning of this period, the Australian colonies were belligerently insisting they must not have a Poor Law, yet had reproduced many of the systems of charitable provision in Britain. By the start of the twentieth century, a combination of extended suffrage, basic wage regulation and the aged pension had led to a reputation as a 'social laboratory'. And yet half a century later, Australia was a 'welfare laggard' and the Labor Party's welfare state of the mid-1940s was a relatively modest and parsimonious construction. Models of welfare based on social insurance had been vigorously rejected, and the Australian system continued on a path of highly residual, targeted welfare payments. The book explains this curious and halting trajectory, showing how choices made in earlier decades constrained what could be done, and what could be imagined. Based on extensive new research from a variety of primary sources it makes a significant contribution to general historical debates, as well as to the field of comparative social policy. |
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