Best Papua New Guinea History Books
Here you will get Best Papua New Guinea History Books For you.This is an up-to-date list of recommended books.
1. Lost in Shangri-La
Author: by Mitchell Zuckoff
0061988359
Harper Perennial
English
A New York Times bestseller, the extraordinary World War II mission to rescue survivors of a U.S. Military plane crash in an isolated corner of the South Pacific, and the ancient indigenous tribe members that aided those stranded on the ground in this “Shangri-La.” Award-winning former Boston Globe reporter Mitchell Zuckoffunleashes the exhilarating, untold story of an extraordinary World War IIrescue mission, where a plane crash in the South Pacific plunged a trio of U.S.
Military personnel into a land that time forgot. Fans of Hampton Sides’ Ghost Soldiers, Marcus Luttrell’s Lone Survivor, and David Grann’s The Lost Cityof Z will be captivated by Zuckoff’s masterfullyrecounted, all-true story of danger, daring, determination, and discovery injungle-clad New Guinea during the final days of WWII.
2. Savage Harvest: A Tale of Cannibals, Colonialism, and Michael Rockefeller's Tragic Quest
Author: by Carl Hoffman
William Morrow Paperbacks
English
336 pages
On November 21, 1961, Michael C. Rockefeller, the twenty-three-year-old son of New York governor Nelson Rockefeller, vanished off the coast of southwest New Guinea when his boat capsized. He was on a collecting expedition for the Museum of Primitive Art, and his partnerwho stayed with the boat and was later rescuedshared Michael’s final words as he swam for help: “I think I can make it.”Despite exhaustive searches, no trace of Michael was ever found.
Soon after his disappearance, rumors surfaced that he’d made it to shore, where he was then killed and eaten by the local Asmata native tribe of warriors whose complex culture was built around sacred, reciprocal violence, headhunting, and ritual cannibalism.
The Dutch government and the Rockefeller family vehemently denied the story, and Michael’s death was officially ruled a drowning. But doubts lingered and sensational stories circulated, fueling speculation and intrigue for decades. Now, award-winning journalist Carl Hoffman reveals startling new evidence that finally tells the full, astonishing story.
3. Journeys to the Other Side of the World: Further Adventures of a Young David Attenborough
Author: by David Attenborough
Two Roads
English
432 pages
‘Abundantly good’ TLS’With charm, erudition, humour and passion, the world’s favourite natural history broadcaster documents some of his expeditions from the late 1950s onwards’ Sunday Express’A wondrous reminder of Attenborough’s pioneering role … Full of delightful tales’ Daily Express’An adventure that sparked a lifetime’s commitment to the planet’ The Lady’Attenborough is a fine writer and storyteller’ Irish TimesFollowing the success of the original Zoo Quest expeditions, in the late 1950s onwards the young David Attenborough embarked on further travels in a very different part of the world.
From Madagascar and New Guinea to the Pacific Islands and the Northern Territory of Australia, he and his cameraman companion were aiming to record not just the wildlife, but the way of life of some of the indigenous people of these regions, whose traditions had never been encountered by most of the British public before.
From the land divers of Pentecost Island and the sing-sings of New Guinea, to a Royal Kava ceremony on Tonga and the ancient art of the Northern Territory, it is a journey like no other. Alongside these remarkable cultures he encounters paradise birds, chameleons, sifakas and many more animals in some of the most unique environments on the planet.
4. The Toughest Fighting in the World: The Australian and American Campaign for New Guinea in World War II
Author: by George H. Johnston
Westholme Publishing
English
256 pages
A Classic Firsthand Account of the Struggle to Stop the Japanese Advance Toward Australia in 1942 Following their attacks on Pearl Harbor, the Dutch East Indies, and the Philippines, the Japanese invaded New Guinea in early 1942 as part of their attempt to create a Pacific empire.
Control of New Guinea would enable Japan to establish large army, air force, and naval bases in close proximity to Australia. The Australians, with American cooperation, began a counterattack in earnest. The mountainous terrain covered with nearly impenetrable tropical forest and full of natural hazards resulted in an exceedingly grueling battleground.
The struggle for New Guinea, one of the major campaigns of World War II, lasted the entire war, with the crucial fighting occurring in the first year. In The Toughest Fighting in the World, first published in 1943, Australian war correspondent George H.
Johnston recorded the efforts of both the Australian and American troops, aided by the New Guinea native people, throughout 1942 as they fought a series of vicious and bitter battles against a determined foe. In one of the classic accounts of combat in World War II, the author makes a compelling case that the hardships endured by the soldiers in New Guinea from both nature and the enemy were among the most severe in the war.
5
Flying the Knife Edge: New Guinea Bush Pilot
Author: by Matt McLaughlin
English
410 pages
988140360X
Silver Medal Winner at the 2017 Independent Publisher Book Awards in New York, NY, USA. Sometimes it’s not about the destination… It’s about the journey. Flying the Knife Edge’ is the story of an ordinary man experiencing extraordinary things as a pilot in Papua New Guinea in the 1990s.
After an untimely exit from the Royal New Zealand Air Force, Matt McLaughlin took a leap into the unknown, travelling to Papua New Guinea to work as a missionary pilot. He soon switched from missionary to mercenary, and over the next three and a half years, as he built up the necessary experience to chase his goal of becoming an Airline captain, his life was a rollercoaster ride of adventure, risk, near-misses, and tragedy.
Matt lived on the knife edge of bush pilot ops in one of the world’s most dangerous flying environments. Along the way he soaked up some fascinating local history: the country’s vital role in WWII’s Pacific Theatre; the disappearance of aviator Amelia Earhart; the chaos of the Bougainville civil war; the Morobe gold rush of the 1930s…
6. A Bastard of a Place: The Australians in Papua
Author: by Peter Brune
English
724 pages
1741144035
The story of the five battles that changed Australia forever, this compelling narrative incorporates hundreds of interviews with the soldiers who fought at Kokoda, Milne Bay, Gona, Buna, and Sanananda in 1942 and 1943. Revealed are the very real and engaging experiences of Generals MacArthur and Blamey and other senior Australian commanders who sacrificed many of their senior field officers as scapegoats to protect their own positions, assisted in the making of false legends, and lied about the outcome of the men who fought the battles.
7. Birds of New Guinea
Author: by Bruce M. Beehler
Princeton University Press
English
295 pages
This book is the first definitive ornithological field guide to New Guinea, the world’s second largest island and one of the richest tropical environments in the Old World. Because of its isolation, New Guinea’s biota includes spectacular radiations of unusual plants and animals (of which the birds of paradise are perhaps best known).
The region has long attracted naturalists, ecologists, and anthropologists. This book treats all of the more than 700 species of birds recorded from the region, illustrating more than 600 of them in forty-seven fine color plates and eight black-and-white halftone plates. The text contains species accounts treating identification, distribution, ecology, vocalizations, and behavior.
This is preceded by a detailed introduction to the region, with sections on climate, biogeography, rainforest ecology, and conservation. A chief contribution of the book is the wealth of information on the habits of many of the region’s little-known species.
Included is an ornithological gazetteer, along with four maps showing natural features and important ornithological localities.
8. Attack on Yamamoto:
Author: by Carroll V. Glines
Schiffer Publishing, Ltd.
English
240 pages
Here is the dramatic story of the American mission to shoot Japan’s greatest admiral out of the sky, told by the award-winning author of the Doolittle Raid. On April 18, 1943, against overwhelming odds, Yamamoto’s plane was shot down. Following the mission, a controversy arose: Which pilot actually shot down Yamamoto’s plane?C.V.
Glines turns his formidable research skills on this extraordinary tale of adventure and detection. This updated edition contains the official 1993 Air Force decision on this controversy.
9. Invasion Rabaul: The Epic Story of Lark Force, the Forgotten Garrison, January – July 1942 (Rabaul Trilogy)
Author: by Bruce Gamble
0760345910
Zenith Press
English
The riveting first book in Bruce Gamble’s critically acclaimed Rabaul trilogy, originally published in hardcover entitled Darkest Hour, which chronicles the longest battle of World War II. January 23, 1942, New Britain.It was 2:30 a.M., the darkest hour of the day and, for the tiny Australian garrison sent to defend this Southwest Pacific island, soon to be the darkest hour of the war.
Lark Force, comprising of 1,500 soldiers and six nurses, faced a vastly superior Japanese amphibious unit poised to overrun Rabaul, capital of Australia’s mandated territories. Invasion Rabaul, the first book in military historian Bruce Gamble’s critically acclaimed Rabaul trilogy, is a gut-wrenching account of courage and sacrifice, folly and disaster, as seen through the eyes of the defenders who survived the Japanese assault.
Gamble’s gripping narrative follows key individuals – soldiers and junior officers, an American citizen and an Army nurse among them – who were driven into the jungle, prey to the unforgiving environment and a cruel enemy that massacred its prisoners.
10. Turning Point: The Battle for Milne Bay 1942 – Japan's first land defeat in World War II
Author: by Michael Veitch
English
352 pages
0733640559
The Battle for Milne Bay – Japan’s first defeat on land in the Second World War – was a defining moment in the evolution of the indomitable Australian fighting spirit. For the men of the AIF, the militia and the RAAF, it was the turning point in the Pacific, and their finest – though now largely forgotten – hour.
Forgotten, until now. In August 1942, Japan’s forces were unstoppable. Having conquered vast swathes of south-east Asia – Malaya, Singapore, the Dutch East Indies – and now invading New Guinea, many feared the Empire of the Rising Sun stood poised to knock down Australia’s northern door.
But first they needed Port Moresby. In the still of an August night, Japanese marines sailed quietly into Milne Bay, a long, malaria-ridden dead end at the far eastern tip of Papua, to unleash an audacious pincer movement. Unbeknown to them, however, a secret airstrip had been carved out of a coconut plantation by US Engineers, and a garrison of Australian troops had been established, supported by two locally based squadrons of RAAF Kittyhawks, including the men of the famed 75 Squadron.
11. Fortress Rabaul: The Battle for the Southwest Pacific, January 1942-April 1943
Author: by Bruce Gamble
B004NNUWWG
Zenith Press
May 16, 2010
For most of World War II, the mention of Japan’s island stronghold sent shudders through thousands of Allied airmen. Some called it Fortress Rabaul, an apt name for the headquarters of the Imperial Japanese forces in the Southwest Pacific. Author Bruce Gamble chronicles Rabaul’s crucial role in Japanese operations in the Southwest Pacific.
Millions of square feet of housing and storage facilities supported a hundred thousand soldiers and naval personnel. Simpson Harbor and the airfields were the focus of hundreds of missions by American air forces. Winner of the “Gold Medal” (Military Writers Society of America) and “Editor’s Choice Award” (Stone & Stone Second World War Books), Fortress Rabaul details a critical and, until now, little understood chapter in the history of World War II.
12. Tree-Kangaroos of Australia and New Guinea (Australian Natural History Series)
Author: by Roger Martin
English
168 pages
064309072X
To many people, the suggestion that a kangaroo could live up a tree is fantasy. Yet, in the rainforests of Far North Queensland and New Guinea, there are extraordinary kangaroos that do just that. Many aspects of these marsupials’ anatomy and biology suggest a terrestrial kangaroo ancestor.
Yet no one has, so far, come forward with a convincing explanation of how, why and when mammals that was so superbly adapted for life on the ground should end up back in the trees. This book reviews the natural history and biology of tree-kangaroos from the time of their first discovery by Europeans in the jungles of West Papua in 1826 right up to the present day, covering the latest research being conducted in Australian and New Guinea.
Combining information from a number of disparate disciplines, the author sets forth the first explanation of this apparent evolutionary conundrum. Features* Provides a fascinating and readable account of an unusual evolutionary conundrum * Written by a field biologist with more than a decade’s experience working with tree-kangaroos
13. Becoming Sinners: Christianity and Moral Torment in a Papua New Guinea Society (Ethnographic Studies in Subjectivity)
Author: by Joel Robbins
English
410 pages
0520238001
In a world of swift and sweeping cultural transformations, few have seen changes as rapid and dramatic as those experienced by the Urapmin of Papua New Guinea in the last four decades. A remote people never directly “missionized,” the Urapmin began in the 1960s to send young men to study with Baptist missionaries living among neighboring communities.
By the late 1970s, the Urapmin had undergone a charismatic revival, abandoning their traditional religion for a Christianity intensely focused on human sinfulness and driven by a constant sense of millennial expectation. Exploring the Christian culture of the Urapmin, Joel Robbins shows how its preoccupations provide keys to understanding the nature of cultural change more generally.
In so doing, he offers one of the richest available anthropological accounts of Christianity as a lived religion. Theoretically ambitious and engagingly written, his book opens a unique perspective on a Melanesian society, religious experience, and the very nature of rapid cultural change.
