Pacific Journeys

The introductory essay by Professor Brij V Lal, Director of the Contemporary Pacific Centre at Australian National University, chronicles the discovery and settlement of the islands, the diversity of the cultural and social systems, the history of European contact and the challenges and opportunities which lie ahead. The chapters start with Papua New Guinea, travelling east as the original settlers did through the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Fiji and continuing through the islands of Polynesia from New Zealand to Tonga, Samoa, the Cooks, Tahiti, the Marquesas islands, Hawaii and Easter Island.