|
|
Books > Humanities > History > Australasian & Pacific history > General
An examination of France's presence in the South Pacific after the
takeover of Tahiti. It places the South Pacific in the context of
overall French expansion and current theories of colonialism and
imperialism and evaluates the French impact on Oceania.
- When was Aotearoa discovered? - How was Maori society organised
in pre-European times? - What is traditional Maori art? - How does
the Treaty of Waitangi affect us today? History and culture, from
the great Polynesian migration to present-day sport and politics,
are explored in this introduction to the world of the Maori.
The question is as searing as it is fundamental to the continuing
debate over Japanese culpability in World War II and the period
leading up to it: "How could Japanese soldiers have committed such
acts of violence against Allied prisoners of war and Chinese
civilians?" During the First World War, the Japanese fought on the
side of the Allies and treated German POWs with respect and
civility. In the years that followed, under Emperor Hirohito,
conformity was the norm and the Japanese psyche became one of
selfless devotion to country and emperor; soon Japanese soldiers
were to engage in mass murder, rape, and even cannibalization of
their enemies. Horror in the East examines how this drastic change
came about. On the basis of never-before-published interviews with
both the victimizers and the victimized, and drawing on
never-before-revealed or long-ignored archival records, Rees
discloses the full horror of the war in the Pacific, probing the
supposed Japanese belief in their own racial superiority, analyzing
a military that believed suicide to be more honorable than
surrender, and providing what the Guardian calls "a powerful,
harrowing account of appalling inhumanity...impeccably researched."
This historical study of the development of social welfare systems
in divergent countries draws on a variety of essays to examine the
work of each country in turn, followed by a comparison of all three
and an examination of social experiments in regions of recent
settlement.
War has shaped Australian society profoundly. When we commemorate
the sacrifices of the Anzacs, we rightly celebrate their bravery,
but we do not always acknowledge the complex aftermath of combat.In
The Cost of War, Stephen Garton traces the experiences of
Australia's veterans, and asks what we can learn from their
stories. He considers the long-term effects of war on returned
servicemen and women, on their families and communities, and on
Australian public life. He describes attempts to respond to the
physical and psychological wounds of combat, from the first victims
of shellshock during WWI to more recent understandings of
post-traumatic stress disorder. And he examines the political and
social repercussions of war, including debates over how we should
commemorate conflict and how society should respond to the needs of
veterans.When the first edition of The Cost of War appeared in
1996, it offered a ground-breaking new perspective on the Anzac
experience. In this new edition, Garton again makes a compelling
case for a more nuanced understanding of the individual and
collective costs of war.
In this companion to the HBO(r) miniseries-executive produced by
Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, and Gary Goetzman-Hugh Ambrose reveals
the intertwined odysseys of four U.S. Marines and a U.S. Navy
carrier pilot during World War II.
Between America's retreat from China in late November 1941 and the
moment General MacArthur's airplane touched down on the Japanese
mainland in August of 1945, five men connected by happenstance
fought the key battles of the war against Japan. From the debacle
in Bataan, to the miracle at Midway and the relentless vortex of
Guadalcanal, their solemn oaths to their country later led one to
the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot and the others to the coral
strongholds of Peleliu, the black terraces of Iwo Jima and the
killing fields of Okinawa, until at last the survivors enjoyed a
triumphant, yet uneasy, return home.
In "The Pacific," Hugh Ambrose focuses on the real-life stories of
the five men who put their lives on the line for our country. To
deepen the story revealed in the miniseries and go beyond it, the
book dares to chart a great ocean of enmity known as The Pacific
and the brave men who fought. Some considered war a profession,
others enlisted as citizen soldiers. Each man served in a different
part of the war, but their respective duties required every ounce
of their courage and their strength to defeat an enemy who
preferred suicide to surrender. The medals for valor which were
pinned on three of them came at a shocking price-a price paid in
full by all.
For the first time ever, the compelling story of the infamous
Kokoda Track campaign has been told from both sides of the
conflict. In a unique and balanced portrayal, renowned journalist
Paul Ham recounts both the Australian and Japanese perspectives of
the events on the hellish Papuan jungle trail where thousands
fought and died during World War II. Based on extensive research in
Australia and Japan, and including previously unpublished
documents, Kokoda intimately relates the stories of ordinary
soldiers in 'the world's worst killing field', and examines the
role of commanders in sending ill-equipped, unqualified Australian
troops into battles that resulted in near 100 per cent casualty
rates. It was a war without mercy, fought back and forth along 90
miles (145 km) of river crossings, steep inclines and precipitous
descents, with both sides wracked by hunger and disease, and
terrified of falling into enemy hands. Defeat was unthinkable: the
Australian soldier was fighting for his homeland against an
unyielding aggressor; the Japanese ordered to fight to the death in
a bid to conquer 'Greater East Asia'. Paul Ham captures the spirits
of those soldiers and commanders who clashed in this war of
exceptional savagery, and tells of the brave souls on both sides of
the campaign whose courage and sacrifices must never be forgotten.
'The Earth is a Common Treasury', proclaimed the English
Revolutionaries in the 1640s. Does the principle of the commons
offer us ways to respond now to the increasingly destructive
effects of neoliberalism? With insight, passion and an eye on
history, Jane Goodall argues that as the ravages of neo-liberalism
tear ever more deeply into the social fabric, the principle of the
commons should be restored to the heart of our politics. She looks
in particular at land and public institutions in Australia and
elsewhere. Many ordinary citizens seem prepared to support
governments that increase national debt while selling off publicly
owned assets and cutting back on services. In developed countries,
extreme poverty is becoming widespread yet we are told we have
never been so prosperous. This important book calls for a radically
different kind of economy, one that will truly serve the common
good. Topical and constructive - this book argues for the
restoration of the principle of the commons as a way of reclaiming
the social fabric from the ravages of neo-liberalism Questions why
so many citizens support governments that increase national debt
while selling off publicly owned assets Asks how and why our
political culture and economic policies have become so hostile to
communal resources and public ownership Has an eye on the history
of the commons as well as those who advocate for it in a modern
form: Bill Shorten and Sally McManus for example in Australia;
Jeremy Corbyn in the UK and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in the US.
Australia and the World celebrates the pioneering role of Neville
Meaney in the formation and development of foreign relations
history in Australia and his profound influence on its study,
teaching and application.The contributors to the volume -
historians, practitioners of foreign relations and political
commentators, many of whom were taught by Meaney at the University
of Sydney over the years - focus especially on the interaction
between geopolitics, culture and ideology in shaping Australian and
American approaches to the world.Individual chapters examine a
number of major themes informing Neville Meaney's work, including
the sources and nature of Australia's British identity; the
hapless, if dedicated, efforts of Australian politicians, public
servants and intellectuals to reconcile this intense cultural
identity with Australia's strategic anxieties in the Asia-Pacific
region; and the sense of trauma created when the myth of
'Britishness' collapsed under the weight of new historical
circumstances in the 1960s. They survey relations between Australia
and the United States in the years after World War Two. Finally,
they assess the US perceptions of itself as an 'exceptional' nation
with a mission to spread democracy and liberty to the wider world
and the way in which this self-perception has influenced its
behaviour in international affairs.
A Primer for Teaching Pacific Histories is a guide for college and
high school teachers who are teaching Pacific histories for the
first time or for experienced teachers who want to reinvigorate
their courses. It can also serve those who are training future
teachers to prepare their own syllabi, as well as teachers who want
to incorporate Pacific histories into their world history courses.
Matt K. Matsuda offers design principles for creating syllabi that
will help students navigate a wide range of topics, from settler
colonialism, national liberation, and warfare to tourism, popular
culture, and identity. He also discusses practical pedagogical
techniques and tips, project-based assignments, digital resources,
and how Pacific approaches to teaching history differ from
customary Western practices. Placing the Pacific Islands at the
center of analysis, Matsuda draws readers into the process of
strategically designing courses that will challenge students to
think critically about the interconnected histories of East Asia,
Southeast Asia, Australia, the Pacific Islands, and the Americas
within a global framework.
Davida Malo's Mo'olelo Hawai'i is the single most important
description of pre-Christian Hawaiian culture. Malo, born in 1795,
twenty-five years before the coming of Christianity to Hawai'i,
wrote about everything from traditional cosmology and accounts of
ancestral chiefs to religion and government to traditional
amusements. The heart of this two-volume work is a new, critically
edited text of Malo's original Hawaiian, including the manuscript
known as the "Carter copy," handwritten by him and two helpers in
the decade before his death in 1853. Volume 1 provides images of
the original text, side by side with the new edited text. Volume 2
presents the edited Hawaiian text side by side with a new annotated
English translation. Malo's text has been edited at two levels.
First, the Hawaiian has been edited through a careful comparison of
all the extant manuscripts, attempting to restore Malo's original
text, with explanations of the editing choices given in the
footnotes. Second, the orthography of the Hawaiian text has been
modernized to help today's readers of Hawaiian by adding
diacritical marks ('okina and kahako, or glottal stop and macron,
respectively) and the punctuation has been revised to signal the
end of clauses and sentences. The new English translation attempts
to remain faithful to the edited Hawaiian text while avoiding
awkwardness in the English. Both volumes contain substantial
introductions. The introduction to Volume 1 (in Hawaiian) discusses
the manuscripts of Malo's text and their history. The introduction
to Volume 2 contains two essays that provide context to help the
reader understand Malo's Moolelo Hawaii. "Understanding Malo's
Moolelo Hawaii" describes the nature of Malo's work, showing that
it is the result of his dual Hawaiian and Western education. "The
Writing of the Moolelo Hawaii" discusses how the Carter copy was
written and preserved, its relationship to other versions of the
text, and Malo's plan for the work as a whole. The introduction is
followed by a new biography of Malo by Kanaka Maoli historian
Noelani Arista, "Davida Malo, a Hawaiian Life," describing his life
as a chiefly counselor and Hawaiian intellectual.
These volumes present a comprehensive survey of the history of the
Pacific Ocean, an area making up around one third of the Earth's
surface, from initial human colonization to the present day.
Reflecting a wide range of cultural and disciplinary perspectives,
this two-volume work details different ways of telling and viewing
history in a Pacific world of exceptionally diverse cultural
traditions, over time spans that require multidisciplinary and
multicultural collaborative perspectives. The central importance of
nations touched by the Pacific in contemporary world affairs cannot
be understood without recourse to the deep history of interactions
on and across the Pacific. In reflecting the diversity and dynamism
of the societies of this blue hemisphere, these volumes seek to
enhance world histories and broaden readers' perspectives on forms
of historical knowledge and expression. Volume I explores the
history of the Pacific Ocean pre-1800 and Volume II examines the
period from 1800 to the present day.
The paradox of progressivism continues to fascinate more than one
hundred years on. Democratic but elitist, emancipatory but
coercive, advanced and assimilationist, Progressivism was defined
by its contradictions. In a bold new argument, Marilyn Lake points
to the significance of turn-of-the-twentieth-century exchanges
between American and Australasian reformers who shared racial
sensibilities, along with a commitment to forging an ideal social
order. Progressive New World demonstrates that race and reform were
mutually supportive as Progressivism became the political logic of
settler colonialism. White settlers in the United States, who saw
themselves as path-breakers and pioneers, were inspired by the
state experiments of Australia and New Zealand that helped shape
their commitment to an active state, women's and workers' rights,
mothers' pensions, and child welfare. Both settler societies
defined themselves as New World, against Old World feudal and
aristocratic societies and Indigenous peoples deemed backward and
primitive. In conversations, conferences, correspondence, and
collaboration, transpacific networks were animated by a sense of
racial kinship and investment in social justice. While "Asiatics"
and "Blacks" would be excluded, segregated, or deported, Indians
and Aborigines would be assimilated or absorbed. The political
mobilizations of Indigenous progressives-in the Society of American
Indians and the Australian Aborigines' Progressive
Association-testified to the power of Progressive thought but also
to its repressive underpinnings. Burdened by the legacies of
dispossession and displacement, Indigenous reformers sought
recognition and redress in differently imagined new worlds and thus
redefined the meaning of Progressivism itself.
"A multilayered, highly informative and insightful book that blends
memoir, historical and travel narrative...vivid and meticulously
researched."--"San Francisco Chronicle
"In this involving, compassionate memoir, Christina Thompson
tells the story of her romance and eventual marriage to a Maori
man, interspersing it with a narrative history of the cultural
collision between Westerners and the Maoris of New Zealand.
The Oxford Handbook of Australian Politics is a comprehensive
collection that considers Australia's distinctive politics- both
ancient and modern- at all levels and across many themes. It
examines the factors that make Australian politics unique and
interesting, while firmly placing these in the context of the
nation's Indigenous and imported heritage and global engagement.
The book presents an account of Australian politics that recognizes
and celebrates its inherent diversity by taking a thematic approach
in six parts. The first theme addresses Australia's unique
inheritances, examining the development of its political culture in
relation to the arrival of British colonists and their conflicts
with First Nations peoples, as well as the resulting geopolitics.
The second theme, improvization, focuses on Australia's political
institutions and how they have evolved. Place-making is then
considered to assess how geography, distance, Indigenous presence,
and migration shape Australian politics. Recurrent dilemmas centres
on a range of complex, political problems and their influence on
contemporary political practice. Politics, policy, and public
administration covers how Australia has been a world leader in some
respects, and a laggard in others, when dealing with important
policy challenges. The final theme, studying Australian politics,
introduces some key areas in the study of Australian politics and
identifies the strengths and shortcomings of the discipline. The
Oxford Handbook of Australian Politics is an opportunity for others
to consider the nation's unique politics from the perspective of
leading and emerging scholars, and to gain a strong sense of its
imperfections, its enduring challenges, and its strengths.
|
|