Australia and the Islands of the Pacific: Myths and Wonders of the Southern Seas

The production quality of the book far exceeds the content. The photos are brilliantly reproduced, with deep blues and greens of the ocean, and nice aerials of many islands. The content of the photos, however, is very inconsistent from region to region. Some geographic areas have a nice mix of landscape and cultural shots, while others are only a series of aerial prints (nice but not sufficient.) In the "Tonga" section, we read of an interesting royal burial ground consisting of numerous pyramids, but only see a dozen photos of the island from a distance.

The editing and translation can be blamed for the frustration in reading the book. One of the more annoying layout aspects it's the placement of the photo captions. No effort seems to have been made to place them near the pictures they describe. The captions are also written in an inconsistent mix of broken sentences, quotes from the text and irrelevant facts - in many cases not even describing the photo's content.

There are several errors in distances and heights of mountains, which can be ascribed to conversion during the translation process; mountains are described as "5,456 feet (1,723 feet)" in height.

There are references to "mass" for individuals attending a protestant church service. In describing the "Bounty" mutineers' arrival on Pitcairn Island, the ship is said to have wandered the seas for "years" while the dates given only cover a few months.

So, in summary, the book is not what it claims to be, though it does have pretty pictures.


Great Book   January 27, 2001
2 out of 6 found this review helpful

I was given this book as a gift and it is a wonderful book, both for its amazing photography and narrative. I highly recommend it!