This concise and readable narrative has now been revised to bring the story of the island world - from its first settlement by raft and canoe voyagers, through the period of western contact and acculturation - up to 2010.

Journalists, travellers, business people and the general public have few paths to access specialised knowledge about the complex and changing 'neighbourhood' of the Pacific Islands. This revised edition offers a concise, straightforward narrative in a clear, readable style, spanning the entire subject from the first settlement by Pacific Islanders through the centuries of European contact, cultural influence and colonialism to the coming of independence and the developments since then.