Beyond the Coral Sea: Travels in the Old Empires of the South-West Pacific

by Michael Moran (Author)

• Used

  Hardcover
  2003

  $3.36

  This text presents a romantic and adventurous look at the remarkably diverse cultures of the hidden paradise islands surrounding Papua New Guinea. The islands of the Coral, Solomon and Bismarck Seas were the last inhabited places on earth to be explored by Europeans and remain largely unspoilt, despite the former presence of German, British and Australian colonial rulers. Michael Moran describes eccentric residents past and present such as Queen Emma of New Britain, born of an American father and a Samoan mother, who built up a large empire of copra plantations, traded in the fabled obsidian (black volcanic glass) and entertained on a lavish scale with imported food and French champagne. Superstition, magic rites and the occult are explored as well as the historic anthropological work of Malinowski in the Trobriand Islands; and the author encounters a host of adventurers, mercenaries, explorers, missionaries and prospectors on his wide-ranging travels.

• Used

  Paperback
  2009

  $3.36

  East of Java, west of Tahiti and north of the Cape York peninsula of Australia lie the unknown paradise islands of the Coral, Solomon and Bismarck Seas. They were perhaps the last inhabited place on earth to be explored by Europeans, and even today many remain largely unspoilt, despite the former presence of German, British and even Australian colonial rulers.

  Michael Moran, a veteran traveller, begins his journey on the island of Samarai, historic gateway to the old British Protectorate, as the guest of the benign grandson of a cannibal. He explores the former capitals of German New Guinea and headquarters of the disastrous New Guinea Compagnie, its administrators decimated by malaria and murder. He travels along the inaccessible Rai Coast through the Archipelago of Contented Men, following in the footsteps of the great Russian explorer `Baron' Nikolai Miklouho-Maclay.

  The historic anthropological work of Bronislaw Malinowski guides him through the seductive labyrinth of the Trobriand `Islands of Love' and the erotic dances of the yam festival. Darkly humorous characters, both historical and contemporary, spring vividly to life as the author steers the reader through the richly fascinating cultures of Melanesia.

  `Beyond the Coral Sea' is a captivating voyage of unusual brilliance and a memorable evocation of a region which has been little written about during the past century.

• New

  Paperback
  2009

  $18.12

  East of Java, west of Tahiti and north of the Cape York peninsula of Australia lie the unknown paradise islands of the Coral, Solomon and Bismarck Seas. They were perhaps the last inhabited place on earth to be explored by Europeans, and even today many remain largely unspoilt, despite the former presence of German, British and even Australian colonial rulers.

  Michael Moran, a veteran traveller, begins his journey on the island of Samarai, historic gateway to the old British Protectorate, as the guest of the benign grandson of a cannibal. He explores the former capitals of German New Guinea and headquarters of the disastrous New Guinea Compagnie, its administrators decimated by malaria and murder. He travels along the inaccessible Rai Coast through the Archipelago of Contented Men, following in the footsteps of the great Russian explorer `Baron' Nikolai Miklouho-Maclay.

  The historic anthropological work of Bronislaw Malinowski guides him through the seductive labyrinth of the Trobriand `Islands of Love' and the erotic dances of the yam festival. Darkly humorous characters, both historical and contemporary, spring vividly to life as the author steers the reader through the richly fascinating cultures of Melanesia.

  `Beyond the Coral Sea' is a captivating voyage of unusual brilliance and a memorable evocation of a region which has been little written about during the past century.