30 Days in the South Pacific, True Stories of Escape to Paradise  •  James O'Reilly  •  Sean O'Reilly  •  Larry Habegger ANTHOLOGY •  2005 •  PAPER  • 226 PAGES This anthology, which presents its stories as a month-long journey, features 30 tales of visitors and vagabonds taken in by the South Pacific. (PAC159, $14.95)
Adorning the World, Art of the Marquesas Islands  •  Eric Kjellgren  •  Carol Ivory ART & ARCHITECTURE •  2005 •  PAPER  • 85 PAGES Published in conjunction with an exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, this book features 90 color and 20 black-and-white illustrations of intrricately decorated art from incised ivory and wood to decorated cloth to early engravings showing full-body tattoos. The Western world associates this region with artistic inspiration because of Paul Gauguin's famous sojourn here, but the author, the Associate Curator for Oceanic Art at The Met, focuses on indigenous art, both secular and religious. (PAC152, $19.95)
Arts of the Pacific Islands  •  Anne D'Alleva ART & ARCHITECTURE •  1998 •  PAPER  • 176 PAGES • COMING IN A brief overview of the well known textiles, sculptures, jewelry, paintings, architecture and dance of the Pacific Islands. Definitively written and thoroughly illustrated, this handsomely produced paperback covers the diversity of Polynesian and Micronesian art -- and the cultures that produce it. With color photographs, a timeline and a glossary. (PAC81, $18.95)
Australasia Map  •  Bartholomew Maps MAP A colorful map of the region from Australia to Samoa, including Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, and many Pacific Islands. Shows relief on land, as well as ocean depth. Scale 1:8.5 Million. (AUS61, $13.95)
Coming of Age in Samoa  •  Margaret Mead CULTURAL PORTRAIT •  2001 •  PAPER  • 223 PAGES The original, much-debated account of life and development in America Samoa, originally published in 1928. Written when she was just 23 years old, it launched Meade's long career at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. Though her conclusions and methods may be in dispute, the book remains a compelling and popular story of the islands. (PAC12, $14.00)
Desolation Island  •  Patrick O'Brian LITERATURE •  1994 •  HARD COVER An Aubrey-Maturin adventure, set in the Pacific and Australia. (PAC57, $24.00)
Destiny's Landfall, A History of Guam  •  Robert Rogers HISTORY •  1995 •  PAPER  • 380 PAGES This standard comprehensive history of the island of Guam and its Chamorro inhabitants is written with an anthropological focus. (PAC38, $29.00)
The Diver's Handbook  •  Alan Mountain GUIDEBOOK •  1997 •  PAPER  • 160 PAGES • COMING IN Designed for beginning divers, this illustrated handbook covers everything from equipment and health to conservation. (DIV26, $24.95)
The Edge of Paradise, America in Micronesia  •  P. K. Kluge BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR •  1993 •  PAPER  • 244 PAGES The insightful memoir of a Peace Corps volunteer in Micronesia in 1967 -- and an account of his journey back a generation later after the death of his good friend (who had become president of Pall). Kluge, a writer and former correspondent for the Wall Street Journal, writes with affection of this then-undeveloped corner of Micronesia, and especially of the people he meets. He includes his impressions of Palau, Turk, Ponape, Tinian, Saipan and the Marshall Islands. By the author of Biggest Elivs. (PAC33, $19.00)
The Far Side of the World  •  Patrick O'Brian LITERATURE •  1994 •  HARD COVER  • 366 PAGES This tale, set in 1812, features a trip around Cape Horn, with Stephen Maturin, Patrick O'Brian's wonderful opium-addicted naturalist, exploring the new world with his pal Jack Aubrey. If you haven't yet been introduced to O'Brian's vivid portraits of Nelson's British Navy, here's your chance to dip into this fine series, with a book featuring evocative descriptions of Patagonian wildlife and natural features. A great read (and a great reread for O'Brian fans). (PAC55, $24.00)
Fiji Map  •  HEMA Maps MAP A map of Fiji shown at a scale of 1:625,000. (PAC74, $8.95)
Flags of Our Fathers  •  James Bradley HISTORY •  2006 •  PAPER  • 400 PAGES A compelling portrait of the young men who raised the flag at Iwo Jima, five marines and a navy corpsman. The author, whose father was one of the six, tells the story of the brave men in the bloody battle and their subsequent, sometimes tragic fate. Bradley's father died in 1994. (PAC77, $14.00)
Fodor's Tahiti & French Polynesia  •  Inc. Fodor's Travel Publications GUIDEBOOK •  2008 •  PAPER  • 256 PAGES The up-to-date Fodor's guide features invaluable recommendations on where to stay and eat and what to do throughout Tahiti & French Polynesia . Compact and portable, it's ideal for either a weekend trip or an extended visit. (PAC211, $21.00)
Footprint Diving the World, A Guide to the World's Coral Seas  •  Beth Tierney  •  Shaun Tierney GUIDEBOOK •  2006 •  PAPER  • 350 PAGES An inviting, beautifully illustrated guide to 220 dive sites in 19 countries with chapters on Australia and the Pacific, Mexico and Honduras, Egypt, East Africa and the Maldives, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines and Micronesia. Featuring the diving couple's favorite destinations, the book includes a planning guide, practical tips, and listing of dive centers, hotels, restaurants and live-aboards. (OCE102, $29.95)
France and the South Pacific since 1940  •  Robert Aldrich HISTORY •  1994 •  HARD COVER  • 440 PAGES A history of the South Pacific from World War II to the present, focusing on economic, political and social connections to France. Aldrich looks beyond the idyllic tropical setting to examine thwarted attempts to gain independence from France, as well as their role in nuclear weapons testing and political violence. (PAC89, $25.00)
French Polynesia Map  •  IGN MAP Published by the French Geographic Institute, this glossy map covers French Polynesia at a scale of 1:2,500,000. Without much detail on individual islands, it would be a good choice to keep track of a cruise through the islands. We also carry a detailed map of Tahiti and the Society Islands. (PAC32, $16.95)
Gauguin  •  Robert Goldwater ART & ARCHITECTURE •  2004 •  PAPER  • 128 PAGES A nice series of 116 reproductions of Gauguin's major works, nearly half of which are in color. Paintings, woodcuts and letters by the artist are all represented. (FRN281, $19.95)
Gauguin and the Nabis, Prophets of Modernism  •  Arthur Ellridge ART & ARCHITECTURE •  1995 •  PAPER  • 223 PAGES (ART22, $27.50)
Gauguin Tahiti  •  Francoise Cachin ART & ARCHITECTURE •  2004 •  HARD COVER  • 372 PAGES This illustrated catalog features gorgeous reproductions and authoritative essays on Gauguin and his time in Tahiti. With 260 color and 80 black-and-white illustrations of paintings, watercolors, drawings, prints and sculptures. (PAC92, $65.00)
Gauguin's Skirt  •  Stephen F. Eisenman HISTORY •  1999 •  PAPER  • 232 PAGES A fascinating (if rather academic) look at colonialism, sex and death in colonial and present-day Tahiti, the seat of so many European fantasies. With 110 reproductions (seven in color) of Gauguin's works and of photos circa 1900. (PAC95, $24.95)
Guadalcanal, The Definitive Account of the Landmark Battle  •  Richard Frank HISTORY •  1992 •  PAPER  • 816 PAGES A comprehensive account of the battle, using a variety of primary sources to flesh out the story of one of the most important battles on the Pacific front during WWII. (PAC61, $22.00)
In the Ring of Fire, A Pacific Basin Journey  •  James Houston CULTURAL PORTRAIT •  1997 •  PAPER  • 224 PAGES A lyrical narrative of the author's journeys through Japan, Indonesia, Micronesia, Hawaii and California. From contemplating the Kilauea crater to watching a Ryukyuan dance at an Okinawa community center, Houston reveals the pan-Pacific identity that has emerged from the mixing of Eastern and Western cultures. From the author of "Farewell to Manzanar." (PAC45, $14.95)
Indo-Pacific Coral Reef Field Guide  •  Gerald Allen  •  Roger Steene FIELD GUIDE •  1998 •  PAPER  • 378 PAGES • COMING IN This comprehensive identification guide to coral reef fishes and invertebrates from Hawaii to the Red Sea features 1,800 color photographs. It also includes chapter on marine mammals, turtles and birds. The authors, Gerald Allen and Roger Steene are the reigning authorities on the region (and fine photographers). Highly recommended. (DIV48, $40.00)
The Island of the Colorblind  •  Oliver Sacks TRAVEL NARRATIVE •  1997 •  PAPER  • 320 PAGES At large on Pingelap in the remote Pacific, Oliver Sacks sets up a clinic to look into an unusually high incidence of colorblindness. Sacks is a brilliant, witty writer on neurological conditions (The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat) but these essays also show him to be keen on botany -- and a good travel writer. His chapter on cycads is terrific. (PAC44, $14.95)
The Last Navigator: A Young Man, an Ancient Mariner, the Secrets of the Sea  •  Steve Thomas TRAVEL NARRATIVE •  1997 •  PAPER  • 307 PAGES • COMING IN In this travelogue, Thomas (best known as the host of This Old House), sailed by the stars throughout Micronesia with a master "palau" from the Caroline island of Satawal. (PAC39, $15.95)
The Life and Strange, Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe  •  Daniel Defoe LITERATURE •  1997 •  HARD COVER  • 500 PAGES This edition of the classic story features reproductions of the original wood-cut illustrations and an introduction to the life and times of Defoe. Based on the story of Alexander Selkirk, who was abandoned on the island now named after him. (PAC29, $14.99)
Lonely Planet South Pacific  •  Lonely Planet GUIDEBOOK •  2006 •  PAPER  • 616 PAGES A comprehensive, detailed practical guide to travel in Micronesia and the South Pacific. (PAC120, $27.99)
The Long Way  •  William Rodarmor  •  Bernard Moitessier TRAVEL NARRATIVE •  1995 •  PAPER  • 256 PAGES The daring adventures of a long-distance French sailor and the first Golden Globe race, where he skipped past the finish line -- continuing on his mostly merry way for another three months. He loved to sail. (WLD35, $16.50)
Moon Handbook Fiji  •  David Stanley GUIDEBOOK •  2007 •  PAPER  • 321 PAGES A comprehensive, practical guide to Fiji in the Moon series with drawings, black-and-white photos and 42 maps. (PAC73, $19.95)
Moon Handbook Micronesia  •  Neil Levy GUIDEBOOK •  2003 •  PAPER  • 384 PAGES A thorough introduction to the land, history, and culture of Micronesia, including Guam and Palau. It includes good practical detail on getting around, where to go, and where to stay. With maps and a few black-and-white drawings and photographs. (PAC40, $17.95)
Moon Handbook Tahiti  •  David Stanley GUIDEBOOK •  2003 •  PAPER  • 435 PAGES A practical guide to Tahiti and French Polynesia. It's a no-nonsense book, jam-packed with information on history, culture and tourist necessities. With photographs, maps and charts. (PAC87, $17.95)
Mr. Bligh's Bad Language: Passion, Power and Theatre on the "Bounty"  •  Greg Dening HISTORY •  1994 •  PAPER  • 445 PAGES It may have already inspired several movies and any number of books, but the story of Captain Bligh and his mutiny is still fertile ground for scholarship and debate. This book is an insightful, provocative review of events. (PAC42, $45.00)
Mutiny and Romance in the South Seas, A Companion to the Bounty Adventure  •  Sven Wahlroos  •  Rolf Du Rietz HISTORY •  2001 •  PAPER  • 639 PAGES • COMING IN A chronicle and gazetteer of the voyage of the Bounty, originally published in 1989. A print-on-demand edition (hence the hefty price). The book includes Bligh's second expedition (PAC109, $36.95)
Native Cultures of the Pacific Islands  •  Douglas L. Oliver CULTURAL PORTRAIT •  1989 •  PAPER  • 172 PAGES A digest of the author's scholarly work on the cultures of the Pacific before contact with Europeans. It's a brief and illuminating overview of native cultures, featuring good descriptions of family life, food, travel, and social relations. With line drawings and maps. (PAC08, $20.00)
Nest in the Wind, Adventures in Anthropology on a Tropical Island  •  Martha C. Ward CULTURAL PORTRAIT •  2005 •  PAPER  • 178 PAGES A memoir of anthropological research among the peoples of Ponhpei in Micronesia in the 1970s -- an island where people do (or at least did) eat dogs, grow giant yams in secret, share potent bowls of kava, and have a decidedly relaxed attitude about relations between the sexes. It's a witty account, enlivened by the author's good cheer and insight. With illustrations by Nancy Zoder Dawes. (PAC37, $14.95)
New Caledonia Map  •  IGN MAP A clear, nicely detailed map of New Caledonia, at a scale of 1:500,000 published by the IGN in France. (PAC117, $16.95)
Nutmeg of Consolation  •  Patrick O'Brian LITERATURE •  1991 •  HARD COVER  • 315 PAGES Further adventures of Captain Aubrey & Co., shipwrecked in the Dutch East Indies, and finding their way to the penal colony at Botany Bay in the early 19th Century. The passage on Botany Bay is one of the most evocative (and frightening) descriptions we know of the first European settlements in Australia. If you haven't yet been introduced to O'Brian's vivid portraits of Nelson's British Navy, here's your chance to dip into this fine series. (AUS69, $24.00)
Okinawa, The Last Battle of World War II  •  Ross Leckie HISTORY •  1996 •  PAPER  • 256 PAGES A fast-paced history of the battle as witnessed by participants on both sides. (PAC60, $15.00)
Omoo  •  Herman Melville LITERATURE •  2007 •  PAPER  • 336 PAGES Taking up where Melville's "Typee" left off, this novel, partly based on the author's travels in the South Pacific, tells the story of an unsuccessful mutiny, which lands the protagonist in a Tahitian jail. Further adventures ensue on and around the island of Tahiti. The entire trilogy is also available in a single hard cover edition, (PAC62). (PAC93, $14.00)
Pacific Ocean Map  •  HEMA Maps MAP A map of the entire Pacific Ocean from the Aleutian and Kuril Islands to Australia and New Zealand at a scale of 1:24 million. The reverse features detailed maps of individual islands and island groups, including French Polynesia, Hawaii and the Solomons. Hema Maps also publishes separate relief maps of the Solomon Islands, Tahiti and the Society Islands, Western Samoa and Vanuatu. (PAC52, $8.95)
Paul Gauguin ,1848-1903: The Primitive Sophisticate  •  Ingo F. Walther ART & ARCHITECTURE •  2000 •  PAPER  • 95 PAGES In this short, illustrated introduction to Gauguin and his paintings, color reproductions are paired with commentary on the works. (FRN280, $9.99)
Pioneers of the Pacific, Voyages of Exploration, 1787-1810  •  Nigel Rigby EXPLORATION •  2005 •  HARD COVER  • 144 PAGES (PAC166, $26.95)
Pouliuli  •  Albert Wendt LITERATURE •  1995 •  PAPER  • 147 PAGES A celebrated novel of village life and power and myth by the noted Samoan writer, a novelist, poet and short story writer from Western Samoa. (PAC19, $10.00)
Reference Map of Oceania, the Pacific Islands of Micronesia, Polynesia, Melanesia  •  James A. Bier 2008 •  MAP • COMING IN DECEMBER NEW EDITION NOW DELAYED UNTIL AT LEAST DECEMBER 08. This outstanding double-sided map shows both a broad view of the western Pacific at a scale of 1:17,460,000 and 52 detailed inset maps of the principal islands and island chains of Micronesia, Polynesia and Melanesia. It covers the entire region from French Polynesia and Hawaii west to Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. Second revised edition. (PAC07, $9.95)
Robinson Crusoe  •  Daniel Defoe LITERATURE •  2003 •  PAPER  • 320 PAGES Inspired by the real-life mariner Alexander Selkirk, it's worth revisiting this classic before exploring the island named after him. Not just an adventure story, it reveals much about the life and times of Defoe. (PAC30, $8.00)
Serpent in Paradise  •  Dea Birkett CULTURAL PORTRAIT •  1998 •  PAPER  • 296 PAGES Intrigued by legends and romance, journalist Dea Birkett gets herself to three-square-mile Pitcairn Island for a sojourn among the descendents of Captain Bligh's mutinous crew. Interweaving history and observation, Birkett has written a fascinating account of the island and its isolated population (who didn't like her much or appeciate a journalist in their midst). (PAC28, $12.95)
The Sex Lives of Cannibals, Adrift in the Equatorial Pacific  •  J. Maarten Troost TRAVEL NARRATIVE •  2004 •  PAPER  • 288 PAGES Dragged unwittingly with his wife to Kiribati, the author settled down to explore the island, its eccentric inhabitants, issues and challenges in this hilarious, disturbing first book. The account details his misadventures with pollution, angry dogs and other island disasters. It's hardly paradise. This isolated group of 33 atolls was known as the Gilbert Islands until independence from Britain in 1979. (PAC146, $12.95)
Stevenson Under the Palm Trees  •  Alberto Manguel LITERATURE •  2004 •  PAPER  • 112 PAGES Manguel (A History of Reading) evokes Robert Louis Stevenson and his years in the South Seas in this meditative story. Stevenson becomes introspective -- and a little homesick-- when he meets a man on Samoa from his home town of Edinburgh, and his quiet life takes a disturbing turn when the Samoan woman he loves is raped and murdered. (PAC158, $18.00)
Tahitians, Mind and Experience in the Society Islands  •  Robert I. Levy  •  Pierre Heyman CULTURAL PORTRAIT •  1991 •  PAPER  • 576 PAGES With a focus on cultural anthropology, this scholarly book explores the peoples of Tahiti, their culture, traditions, and history. (PAC84, $43.00)
Treasure Island  •  Robert Louis Stevenson LITERATURE •  1995 •  PAPER  • 298 PAGES The famous and fabulous adventure story of a boy who finds himself among pirates while searching for buried treasure. Inspired by the Isla de Coco. (PAC25, $8.95)
The Trial of the Cannibal Dog, The Remarkable Story of Captain Cook's Encounters in the South Seas  •  Anne Salmond HISTORY •  2003 •  HARD COVER  • 536 PAGES An intriguing history of the voyages of Captain Cook with a focus on the relationship between the Pacific islanders and seafaring Englishmen. Salmond describes how mutual curiosity turned into animosity, culminating in the death of Captain Cook in Hawaii. (PAC138, $30.00)
The Truelove  •  Patrick O'Brian LITERATURE •  1992 •  HARD COVER  • 256 PAGES More terrific Aubrey & Maturin, set in the Pacific. (PAC53, $24.00)
Typee, A Peep at Polynesian Life  •  Herman Melville LITERATURE •  1996 •  PAPER  • 328 PAGES The most popular of Melville's books during his lifetime, this partly autobiographical work first published in 1846 tells the story of Tommo, a Yankee sailor who jumps ship and enters the flawed Pacific paradise of Nuku Hiva in the Marquesas. Controversial when first published because of its criticism of missionaries and its erotic content, the book holds up today both as a fine example of Melville's glorious prose, and as early quasi-anthropology in the Pacific Islands. (PAC14, $12.95)
Where to Watch Birds in Australasia and Oceania  •  Nadia Wheatley REFERENCE •  1998 •  HARD COVER  • 464 PAGES A guide to 200 destinations throughout Australasia including checklists and descriptions of the avifauna. (PAC54, $62.50)
The Wine-Dark Sea  •  Patrick O'Brian LITERATURE •  1993 •  HARD COVER  • 261 PAGES Further adventures of Captain Aubrey and his friend Maturin, set in the Pacific. (PAC56, $24.00)