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Lonely Planet Tahiti and French Polynesia

Lonely Planet Tahiti and French Polynesia

by Tony Wheeler | Jean-Bernard Carillet

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2012
  • PAPER
  • 296 PAGES

This practical guide to Tahiti and French Polynesia includes a good overview on history, culture and nature, and helpful travel details for your journey. (PAC86, $22.99)

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)

 
Reference Map of Oceania, The Pacific Islands of Micronesia, Polynesia, Melanesia

Reference Map of Oceania, The Pacific Islands of Micronesia, Polynesia, Melanesia


by James A. Bier

  • 2009
  • MAP

This double-sided sheet shows the whole Pacific from Hawaii west to French Polynesia, Micronesia and Papua New Guinea (1:17,460,000) with detailed maps of 52 islands and island chains on the reverse. (PAC07, $9.95)

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)

Aphrodite's Island, The European Discovery of Tahiti

Aphrodite's Island, The European Discovery of Tahiti


by Anne Salmond

  • HISTORY
  • 2011
  • PAPER
  • 544 PAGES

Louis-Antoine de Bougainville, James Cook, Samuel Wallis and many more early European voyagers join local heroes, Tahitian warriors and kings in this authoritative, richly detailed history of French Polynesia and its allure. Author and anthropologist Anne Salmond, (Two Worlds, The Trail of the Cannibal Dogs) is a professor at the University of Auckland. (PAC219, $24.95)

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 People of the Sea, Environment, Identity, and History in Oceania


by Paul D'Arcy

  • HISTORY
  • 2008
  • PAPER
  • 292 PAGES

D'Arcy looks at the oceangoing traditions of the peoples of the Pacific from 1770 to the present in this scholarly but accessible overview. (PAC310, $25.00)

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 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)

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)

In the South Seas

In the South Seas


by Robert Louis Stevenson

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 1999
  • PAPER
  • 283 PAGES

A set of Stevenson's personal sketches describing a year of travels in the Marquesas, Paumotus and the Gilberts, first written as magazine articles and then reworked to incorporate detail on local peoples and history, published posthumously. (PAC147, $16.00)

The Fragile Edge, Diving and Other Adventures in the South Pacific

The Fragile Edge, Diving and Other Adventures in the South Pacific


by Julia Whitty

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2008
  • PAPER
  • 304 PAGES

Whitty illuminates coral reefs, their inhabitants and the pleasures of diving in this memoir of underwater adventures in Rangiroa, Tuvalu and Moorea. Winner of the 2008 Kiriyama Prize and John Burroughs Medal. (PAC173, $14.95)

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)

South Sea Tales

South Sea Tales


by Robert Louis Stevenson

  • LITERATURE
  • 2008
  • PAPER
  • 289 PAGES

These entertaining tales, set among both real and mythical islands, show Stevenson's keen observations of island life. (PAC15, $14.95)

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)

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)

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, $46.95)

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.