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The extraordinary sixty-thousand-year history of how the Pacific islands were settled.
'Takes readers on a narrative odyssey'
Wall Street Journal, Books of the Year 'Highlights a dizzying burst of new research'
The Economist 'A refreshing addition to the canon of literature that contemplates Oceanic navigation'
Noelle Kahanu 'I would not be surprised if, after reading this masterpiece, many readers are compelled to take up voyaging themselves'
Science MagazineThousands of islands, inhabited by a multitude of different peoples, are scattered across the vastness of the Pacific. The first European explorers to visit Oceania, from the sixteenth century on, were astounded and perplexed to find populations thriving so many miles from the nearest continents. Who were these people and where did they come from?
In
Voyagers, the distinguished anthropologist Nicholas Thomas charts the course of the seaborne migrations that populated the islands between Asia and the Americas. Drawing on the latest research, including insights gained from linguistics, archaeology, and the re-enactment of voyages, Thomas provides a dazzling account of these long-distance migrations, the sea-going technologies that enabled them, and the societies that they left in their wake.
About the author
Nicholas Thomas is a professor of anthropology at the University of London. A native of Sydney, Australia, he has traveled extensively in the course of his Pacific research and has curated several exhibitions on the history, art, and culture of Oceania.
Nicholas Thomas is Professor of Anthropology at Goldsmith's College, University of London.
Nicholas Thomas is a professor of anthropology at the University of London. A native of Sydney, Australia, he has traveled extensively in the course of his Pacific research and has curated several exhibitions on the history, art, and culture of Oceania. Nicholas Thomas is Professor of Anthropology at Goldsmith's College, University of London.
Summary
The extraordinary sixty-thousand-year history of how the Pacific islands were settled.
Foreword
The extraordinary sixty-thousand-year history of how the Pacific islands were settled.
Additional text
Voyagers is a refreshing addition to the canon of literature that contemplates Oceanic navigation... At once global yet intimate, shaped by Thomas's own Pacific journeys, and filled with wonderful images, historical and contemporary, that pay homage to Oceania's profound relationship with the sea
