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Hidden Gems of the South Pacific

READING AND TRAVEL GUIDE

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This expedition includes a $25 gift certificate to Longitude. Please use the promotion code printed on your gift certificate during checkout.

Essential Reading

Item EXPAC181. Buy these 5 items as a set for $87 including shipping, 15% off the retail price.
With free shipping on anything else you order.

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Blue Latitudes, Boldly Going Where Captain Cook Has Gone Before

Blue Latitudes, Boldly Going Where Captain Cook Has Gone Before

by Tony Horwitz

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2003
  • PAPER
  • 480 PAGES

Sailing on a replica of Endeavour, Horwitz mixes history, fun and adventure in this hilarious recap of Cook's daring voyages around the world. (EXP31, $17.00)

Fiji's Natural Heritage

Fiji's Natural Heritage

by Paddy Ryan

  • NATURAL HISTORY
  • 2000
  • HARD COVER
  • 288 PAGES

A superbly illustrated, comprehensive survey of the natural history of Fiji. With 500 color photos. (PAC126, $34.95)

Noa Noa, The Tahiti Journal

Noa Noa, The Tahiti Journal

by Paul Gauguin | John Miller

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 1985
  • PAPER
  • 96 PAGES

Gauguin's impressions of two years in French Polynesia, originally published in 1919. With 24 black-and-white illustrations. (PAC13, $5.95)

The Snorkeller's Guide to the Coral Reef, From the Red Sea to the Pacific Ocean

The Snorkeller's Guide to the Coral Reef, From the Red Sea to the Pacific Ocean

by Paddy Ryan

  • NATURAL HISTORY
  • 1994
  • PAPER
  • 184 PAGES

The best-selling, take-along guide to coral reefs, coral-reef fishes, invertebrates and plants of the Indo-Pacific. With 200 color photographs. (DIV18, $21.99)

South Pacific Islands Map

South Pacific Islands Map

by Nelles

  • MAP

Covering the Pacific from Pitcairn to Papua New Guinea at a scale of 13:000,000. With 30 individual island maps, including Easter Island, New Caledonia, the Solomon Islands, Marquesas, French Polynesia, Vanuatu and Fiji. (PAC164, $13.95)

 
Tahiti & French Polynesia Guide

Tahiti & French Polynesia Guide


by Jan Prince

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2011
  • PAPER
  • 632 PAGES

This authoritative, in-depth guide covers all French Polynesia, including not just Tahiti and the Society Islands (the author lives on Moorea) but also the little-discovered Austral Islands and the alluring Marquesas. Sixth edition. (PAC169, $19.95)

Pacific Journeys

Pacific Journeys


by Peter Hendrie

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 2003
  • HARD COVER
  • 224 PAGES

A striking portfolio of 330 color photographs of the people, nature and landscape of the region, Hendrie's gorgeous book includes images from his many journeys to Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, to Tahiti and the Marquesas, Tonga, Fiji, Easter Island and Hawaii over the last 20 years. (PAC183, $45.00)

On the Road of the Winds

On the Road of the Winds


by Patrick Vinton Kirch

  • ARCHAEOLOGY
  • 2001
  • PAPER
  • 424 PAGES

An excellent scholarly review of the prehistory and archaeology of Pacific civilizations before European contact. (PAC101, $39.95)

The Art of Tonga

The Art of Tonga


by Keith St. Cartmail

  • ART & ARCHITECTURE
  • 1997
  • PAPER
  • 152 PAGES

A spectacular, comprehensive overview of Tongan material culture, this handsome book features the sculpture, body adornment, canoes, clubs, containers, tools, textiles and other art of Tonga, ancient and modern. (PAC69, $31.99)

Captain James Cook

Captain James Cook


by Richard Hough

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 1997
  • PAPER
  • 398 PAGES

This fine, vividly written narrative includes a gripping account of Cook's discoveries throughout the Pacific. (PAC24, $18.95)

Gauguin, The Quest for Paradise

Gauguin, The Quest for Paradise


by Francoise Colchin

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 1993
  • PAPER
  • 195 PAGES

Concise and beautifully illustrated, this overview of the artist, his work and life features a significant section on his time in Tahiti. The book includes many paintings as well as excerpts from his journals and other writings. (PAC27, $12.95)

Kon-Tiki, Across the Pacific by Raft

Kon-Tiki, Across the Pacific by Raft


by Thor Heyerdahl | F. H. Lyon

  • EXPLORATION
  • 1990
  • PAPER
  • 304 PAGES

The hugely popular account of a daring 1947 voyage sailing along the Humboldt and Equatorial currents from Peru to Tahiti. Apart from the sheer adventure, Heyerdahl wanted to show the world that Polynesians could have settled the region. With photographs. (PAC10, $5.99)

The Bounty, The True Story of the Mutiny on the Bounty

The Bounty, The True Story of the Mutiny on the Bounty


by Caroline Alexander

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 2004
  • PAPER
  • 491 PAGES

Alexander's follow-up to her phenomenally successful The Endurance is a lively account of the familiar misadventures of William Bligh, including a fresh look at the fate of the mutineers back in England and at Pitcairn. This is a rousing tale of class barriers, the British courts and remarkable seamanship. (PAC134, $17.00)

The Cruise of the Snark

The Cruise of the Snark


by Jack London

  • EXPLORATION
  • 2000
  • PAPER
  • 320 PAGES

A facsimile edition of London's richly evocative account of his ambitious 1906-7 voyage aboard a 43-foot ketch from San Francisco to Hawaii, the Marquesas, Tuomotos, Fiji and the Solomon Islands with his wife and two crew members. With 119 original photographs of places and people. (PAC17, $14.95)

The Happy Isles of Oceania

The Happy Isles of Oceania


by Paul Theroux

  • EXPLORATION
  • 2006
  • PAPER
  • 480 PAGES
  • FAVORITE

The peripatetic author flies off to Australia and New Zealand with a kayak and ends up exploring much of Melanesia and Polynesia, including Tonga, Fiji and the Marquesas in this wickedly funny, wide-ranging tale. (PAC03, $15.95)

Vaka Moana, Voyages of the Ancestors: The Discovery and Settlement of the Pacific

Vaka Moana, Voyages of the Ancestors: The Discovery and Settlement of the Pacific


by R. K. Howe

  • EXPLORATION
  • 2007
  • HARD COVER
  • 368 PAGES

This richly illustrated collection of scholarly articles on Pacific voyaging, past and present, features 400 color and black-and-white photographs, maps and diagrams, along with contributions by Ben Finney, Sam Low, Anne Salmond and other experts. (PAC177, $61.00)

We, the Navigators, The Ancient Art of Landfinding in the Pacific

We, the Navigators, The Ancient Art of Landfinding in the Pacific


by David Lewis

  • EXPLORATION
  • 1994
  • PAPER
  • 464 PAGES

This engaging classic examines how Stone Age Polynesians may have navigated the Pacific. The scholarly volume will appeal to seafarers and modern Pacific travelers. (PAC35, $31.99)

Mutiny on the Bounty

Mutiny on the Bounty


by James Norman Hall | Charles Nordhoff

  • LITERATURE
  • 1989
  • PAPER
  • 379 PAGES

The well-known (and loved) fictional account of the voyage of the HMS Bounty, greatly enjoyable despite its probable lack of accuracy regarding Bligh's personality. (PAC11, $15.99)

Mutiny on the Bounty


by Charles Laughton

  • LITERATURE
  • 2008
  • DVD

Clark Gable, Charles Laughton and Franchot Tone were each nominated for an academy awards for thier performances in this classic 1935 adaptation of Charles Nordhorf's sea saga. (PAC199, $19.97)

South Sea Tales

South Sea Tales


by Jack London

  • LITERATURE
  • 1985
  • PAPER
  • 384 PAGES

London draws on his voyages aboard the Snark in 1907-09 though Polynesia and the Solomons for these eight tales, vividly evoking the turn-of-the-century colonial Pacific. (PAC85, $13.00)

South Sea Tales

South Sea Tales


by Robert Louis Stevenson

  • LITERATURE
  • 2008
  • PAPER
  • 289 PAGES

Towards the end of his life in the late 19th century, Robert Louis Stevenson lived in Samoa and traveled widely around the South Pacific. These entertaining tales, set among both real and mythical islands, show Stevenson's keen observations of island life. (PAC15, $17.05)

Tales of the South Pacific

Tales of the South Pacific


by James A. Michener

  • LITERATURE
  • 1989
  • PAPER
  • 384 PAGES

The first of the big Michener novels, set in World War II Polynesia. It's great fun, and the basis for the Rogers & Hammerstein musical "South Pacific." (PAC18, $7.99)

Ocean Duets

Ocean Duets


by Michele Westmoreland | Sylvia Earle

  • NATURAL HISTORY
  • 2006
  • PAPER
  • 96 PAGES

This stunning portfolio of color photographs celebrates the diversity of marine life. (OCE107, $12.95)

A Field Guide to the Birds of Hawaii and the Tropical Pacific

A Field Guide to the Birds of Hawaii and the Tropical Pacific


by H. Douglas Pratt

  • FIELD GUIDE
  • 1987
  • PAPER
  • 409 PAGES

This landmark field guide with chapters on the islands and habitats features superb color plates by Pratt and a checklist of birds. (HWI32, $45.00)

Reef and Shore Fishes of the South Pacific, New Caledonia to Tahiti and the Pitcairn Islands

Reef and Shore Fishes of the South Pacific, New Caledonia to Tahiti and the Pitcairn Islands


by John Randall

  • FIELD GUIDE
  • 2005
  • HARD COVER
  • 770 PAGES

This extraordinary handbook by leading authority John Randall features 2,018 color illustrations of South Pacific fishes. (PAC161, $77.00)

Reef Fish Identification, Tropical Pacific

Reef Fish Identification, Tropical Pacific


by Paul Humann | Ned Deloach | Gerald Allen | Roger Steene

  • FIELD GUIDE
  • 2003
  • FLEXI-BOUND
  • 450 PAGES

This comprehensive guide to Indo-Pacific reef fishes features 2,500 color photographs. (DIV49, $48.00)

More Recommendations

Here are some other groups of books that might be of interest

Longitude provides recommended reading for travelers in partnership with the leading tour operators and travel programs for hundreds of destinations worldwide. We've got the classic, new and hard-to-find books and maps to help you get the most out of your adventures.