Nature, Culture, and History: The 'Knowing' of Oceania

"An intriguing and provocative work of synthesis, analysis and invitation" --Journal of the Polynesian Society, June 2003 "This is a remarkable book. It could only have been written by a unique individual like K. R. Howe who is both a highly creative and at the same time capable of drawing upon a long professional career of serious research and reflection about Pacific history and historiography. He helpfully places Oceania in a broad global and intellectual context and successfully explores the meeting of two perceived entities--the West and Pacific peoples. He does this in such a way as to incorporate such widely diverse topics as notions of paradise, islands as psychological spaces, human destiny, technology, 'knowing,' colonialism, racism, gender, nuclear testing, and indigenous peoples. Nature, Culture, and History represents the combination of imaginative insight, personal experience, scholarly depth, and philosophical wisdom at its best." --Paul Gordon Lauren, Regents Professor, University of Montana