[.ca] Beyond the Coral Sea: Travels in the Old Empires of the ... (ISBN 0006552358)

The classic work on the Island Provinces of Papua New Guinea:
This is the first book on the Island Provinces of Papua New Guinea rather than the Highlands for a hundred years and what a brilliant book it is! Finely-written with beautiful photographs (particularly of children and island landscapes) as well as excellent maps. Clearly a product of extensive research, this book gives the reader a balanced insight into a vanishing world in a way that is both informative and hugely entertaining. The islands are still almost pristine and 'stone-age' in character but not for much longer I fear. The stories the author tells of characters both historical and modern are almost beyond belief - often hilarious - obviously the apex of European eccentrics vsited New Guinea. This is travel writing of the highest quality about a place most readers are highly unlikely to visit. The account of the great Polish anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski in the Trobriand "Islands of Love" is both penetrating and enlightening. Moran is one of those rare travel writers who respects what he sees and communicates this to the reader with dry humour and deep understanding. As a missionary tells him, life in Papua New Guinea can be both "terrible and wonderful" by turns. Moran steers us through this difficult cultural labyrinth with brilliance. I am looking forward to the Polish edition next year! "Beyond the Coral Sea" will become the standard work and required reading for anyone contemplating a trip to Papua New Guinea - even those who are not.

Delves into the magic of these largely unspoiled colonies:
The isolated islands of the Coral, Solomon and Bismarck Seas were the last to be explored by Europeans, leading author Michael Moran to delve into the magic of these largely unspoiled colonies. BEYOND THE CORAL SEA travels the footsteps of some of the early explorers of the Coral Sea islands, considering history, cultural changes, and anthropological facts.