Grass huts and warehouses : Pacific beach communities of the nineteenth century

Abstract

Pacific beach communities have long been thought of by the romantics as tropical paradises away from the cares of the everyday world. But were they? From the examination of the political, economic, and social developments o f five small port towns - Honolulu, Papeete, Kororareka, Levuka, and Apia - the picture that emerges falls short of paradise. Jealousies, petty quarrels, political manoeuverings, followed the early settlers to their island havens. This book examines the shifts in community power, the development of trade and commerce, race relations, and daily life in the five towns before formal Western control was imposed. Written in the belief that the study of Pacific history is more informative when it moves beyond an individual island or island group, this book with its wide perspective reveals a pattern of remarkable similarity of development in the beach communities. Show more