Rachel and Obadiah is one of the best of Brinton TurkleÕs Obadiah Starbuck stories (the others in the series are Thy Friend Obadiah, The Adventures of Obadiah and Obadiah the Bold), all of which deal with a little Quaker boy in colonial-era Nantucket. The plot of Rachel and Obadiah is basically a variation on the story of the tortoise and the hare. Little Rachel canÕt run as fast as her big brother Obadiah, so when they race to see who will get to bring to town the news of a ship returning to the harbor, her chances of winning do not look good. But Obadiah gets distracted by some blackberry bushes (and the belief that he is so fast that he can always catch up later) and so, by sheer determination, by never giving up for a second, Rachel wins.

I have a six-year-old daughter who has an older brother, so you probably wonÕt be surprised to learn that she thinks this is the very best of the Obadiah books.

Besides being a wonderful story, the book also has superb illustrations. The clothing, the clapboard houses with their widowsÕ walks, the windmills, and the old sailing ships coming into port are all great introductory history lessons for young children. But even better is the variety and expressiveness of all the charactersÕ faces. The joy and expectation on the faces of the crowd waiting for the ship to come in. The pride on RachelÕs tiny face when she wins the race. Especially good is the final picture of Obadiah slumping home while Rachel looks at him with a mixture of new-found pride in herself and compassion for her brother. Brinton Turkle is a master at capturing the complexity of human emotions, and this book is one of the best examples of his work.

All of Turkle's Obadiah books are great for 6-10 year olds. Rachel and Obadiah, in particular is entertaining because it draws the reader into a historical time and place which might otherwise be boring to kids of that age. The story of the competition between Rachel and Obadiah to bring the news of the approaching ships is a theme that kids and adults alike will understand and enjoy. Turkle's Obadiah books bring life and fun to the streets of colonial Nantucket and to its seafaring and Puritan cultures. I loved it as a child and I still do.

What a fine read. It even sounds like radio, which is an accomplishment in itself. And as regards the South Pacific, it's not a bad sound at all. Seward has a great ear, and the book is actually interesting. You learn something about this 'exotic' place at the same time you enjoy learning it!

According to the publisher, this books is now out. Do you have it on order? When will you have it?

Great book about the dreamers of the South Pacific. It is a collection of short stories of important and not so important dreamers who have wanted to make a name for themselves in the South Pacific. Stories range from brutal mutiny to the early history of the Hawaiian Islands.

I read this book several times and would recommend it to any one interested in the history of the South Pacific. I have read most of his books, and found it to be one of his best. I enjoyed Tales of the South Pacific, but his non-fiction work was very informative.

Many of the experiences of the new Russian imigrants captured in this book read like short stories with a beginning, a middle, and a moral. Essentially all of the stories are compelling even when the character is not sympathetic. The human struggle to persevere in the modern world is no where better captured than in the experience of leaving everything you have ever known to start again in a new country. As these are contemporary stories, many resonate.

A thoroughly enjoyable read. Well written, well structured. Extremely moving.

I liked it because it was a mystery and an adventure and those topics are really fun to read about. I couldn't wait to pick up the book again and read it all over. I

If you enjoyed Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boys, this story is for you. It took me back to my childhood and my kids love it, too.

This illuminating, well-researched book provides a look at a very important but neglected aspect of pre-Columbian Andean history. The re-tracing of ritual and pilgrimage in ancient times brings the reader into contact, with solid scientific basis, with native Andean spirituality, and gives essential insights into the rich and holistic Pre-Columbian Andean American Cosmo-vision. It also brings the Island of the Moon and its ancient sacred role out of undeserved obscurity.

This work is an excellent combination of archaeology and ethnohistory. The islands of the Sun and Moon in Lake Titicaca were two of the most important ritual pilgrimage sites in the Inca empire. Until now, our understanding of Inca religion has been hindered by the lack of a comprehensive study of these mysterious sacred islands. Bauer and Stanish present information from an extensive survey of the islands of the Sun and the Moon in a clear and persuasive manner. They then combine their survey results with what is known about these islands from historical sources to describe the activities of pilgrims and priests at these shrines. Anyone interested in Inca religion and politics will find this book invaluable.

I saw this book first time in Apia, the capitol city of Samoa. It was the hard copy edition presented in the show case of the Rainforest Restaurant, whose owners were two historians working passionately on the creation of a small museum of Samoan Art and Culture for Samoa. I was astonished about the amount of details in this book. The more astonished I was as I saw that well situated Samoans were visiting the Swiss/German couple to consult this book regarding their genealogy and heritage, which might be as well in the traditional Samoan ruling nobility or even... divine!

For a contemporary reader Krämer's book might be a difficult lecture though. Krämer puts together facts and legends. Parts of the text are written in Samoan and I could not find out any specific rule for the switching between the German and Samoan languages. The translator of the book, Dr. Verhaaren, remarks in his foreword that Krämer was somewhat inconsistent in his spelling of Samoan words. In my opinion Krämer created a great documentary, but he was not a good writer. The great amount of details, which Krämer often calls by himself just a hearsay, have probably a great value for scholars or lovers of Polynesian mystique, but they might only confuse casual reader. Nevertheless he seems to be very careful about differentiation between facts and rumors.

One of the interesting aspects of this book are the details about the travels, marriages and wars between Samoans, Tongans and even the Melanesian Fijians. Many contemporary families on Samoa know through these reports that their heritage reaches hundreds of miles apart from Samoa. There was a good reason that Samoa became the name "Navigator Islands" after being discovered by the Europeans. Unfortunately, the contemporary Islanders lost solely their ability to navigate on the open Ocean over such distances.

The book contains a large number of beautiful photographs of Samoan people and of the entire Samoa from the colonial period of time as the Great Britain, USA and Germany were all friendly nations "negotiating" their spheres of influence in the Pacific. As you might know, Samoa is still a divided country and the American sponsored government in Pago Pago tries to deepen the differences between the Samoans on the neighboring Islands to prevent a reunification. It is fascinating to see the Samoa as one entity through Krämer's witness document of the past time.

This book is a fascinating "must have" collectible for passionate off road traveler and everyone else looking for the island nostalgia. The publisher, Hawaii Press, made a great effort to provide a splendid quality of typesetting and of print. The price is right. Get this book!

This is a comprehensive and interesting exposition on the history of Samoa.

It is a privilege that it is now available in English so that the information can be more widely read.

Read this to the five-year-old twice already, and expect to r3ead it lots more. The ten year old was delighted: she joined us and reread the book when we were done.

Recommended. You got to love those cows.

Those loveable Santa Cows take their human friends on a magic carpet ride to the islands! Tropical fun to keep the holiday spirit alive. You'll love the whole Santa Cow Series!

Although the book is said to have been printed from camera-ready copy that I supplied, the copy editor took it upon himself to alter the text without having the courtesy of consulting me. In so doing, the paragraphing of the opening chapter was altered from that of Fouque's original text, and several errors were introduced into my annotations. It is regrettable to see these defects in a book to which I devoted eight years of conscientious effort. Apart from this, I hope that the book does credit to Fouque and his long-neglected contributions to geology and archeology.

In 1866-1870, Georgios volcano on Santorini had a series of eruptions that attracted many visitors and scientists. Several eye-witness accounts of the spectacular events were written, but two of them were outstanding, one by Jules Verne and another by Ferdinand Fouque. While Verne described in his science fiction novel how Captain Nemo and his crew witnessed the spectacular eruptions in the middle of Santorini caldera, Fouque wrote a scientific book entitled "Santorini et ses eruptions". Both books became famous. While Verne's book turned out to be a best seller and was translated into many languages, Fouque's book was never such a success because only 800 copies were printed and the many illustrations made it expensive. As a result, many geologists and archeologists have cited the book, but only a few have read the text. Now after more than 120 years this classic has been translated into English. The translator, a leading scientist in volcanology himself, Alexander McBirney of the University of Oregon, has given us a readable text that preserves the style and spirit of the original. His annotations inform the reader about later work and things that have changed since 1879. He has also added a short biographical sketch of Fouque, a doctor of medicine who became interested in volcanoes and was a pioneer in many fields, including the analysis of volcanic minerals and gases. McBirney brings the reader an update on the geological development of Snatorini since the appearance of the original French text. The book comes with the modern geological map of Santorini by Pichler and Kussmaul. Altogether, the combination of Fouque's science, the translator's scholarship, and the publisher's craftsmanship make this one of the best books about volcanoes and the archeology of Santorini ever written.

I have been sailing the Islands off the Scottish West coast for nearly 20 years now. If ONLY I had this book when I started! It is just wonderful. The attention to detail for those using the sea enables good choices of destination to be made on every day you are out there whatever kind of boat you use. The detail on history, mapping, wild life, plant life, harbours, anchorages all add up to a great resource every day on the boat. The authors own drawings and paintings are so true to the place. And then, what a great joy I have in reading it by the fireside on winter nights when I plan the next great adventure amongst these Islands. It is a book, that once read, you will never put it down again if there is still an ounce of sea-faring in you. It just makes you dream again and be there! A must-buy if ever there was one even if you never go there in your life, its that good. Dont miss it.

AND we have had many many hours on the boat late at night with maybe too much grog inside strongly debating the absolute definition of an 'Island' which starts the book. And yet we cannot get any crew to all agree on a single view..

What an extraordinary work! Mr Haswell Smith has certainly putin the legwork when researching this book. The detail that he has goneinto is quite unusual with works of this type, that usually seem tofarm out different parts to different people. As a reference book for people who wish to visit any of Scotlands smaller Islands it is invaluable,(as a sea kayaker I use it often to help plan my trips)and as a fireside read when the sea is too wild to paddle, it helps to fire the imagination. As a piece of work you just have to admire the author's attention to detail. I only wish that he had written this a few years earlier and saved me a lot of effort in researching my own trips.