Mutiny on the Bounty
by James Norman Hall, Charles Nordhoff
The well-known (and loved) fictional account of the voyage of the HMS Bounty, greatly enjoyable despite its probable lack of accuracy regarding Bligh's personality.
Tales of the South Pacific
by James Michener
The first of the big Michener novels, set in World War II Polynesia. It's great fun, and the basis for the Rogers & Hammerstein musical "South Pacific."
Lonely Planet Fijian Phrasebook
by Lonely Planet
This handy pocket phrasebook includes pronunciation, basic grammar and essential vocabulary.
Blue Hope
by Sylvia A. Earle
In this informative, dazzling collection of photographs, maps and essays, deep-sea crusader Sylvia Earle pays tribute to the ocean. Her aim: to encourage us to love the ocean -- all life on Earth, she writes, depends on it.
Reef Fish Identification, Tropical Pacific
by Paul Humann, Ned Deloach, Gerald Allen, Roger Steene
This comprehensive guide to Indo-Pacific reef fishes features 2,500 color photographs.
Noa Noa, The Tahiti Journal
by Paul Gauguin, John Miller (Editor)
Gauguin’s impressions of two years in French Polynesia, originally published in 1919. With 24
black-and-white illustrations.
Oceanic Art
by Nicholas Thomas
A concise, cogent and colorful overview of the gorgeous art of the Pacific Islands. Organized thematically with 182 illustrations, 26 in color.
All Good Things, From Paris to Tahiti
by Sarah Turnbull
Her French husband posted to French Polynesia, the chipper Australian Turnbull, said husband and West Highland Terrier, Maddie, decamp from Paris to Moorea in this endearing memoir, which is about, among many things, her newborn son.
Tahiti & French Polynesia Guide
by Jan Prince
This authoritative, in-depth guide covers all French Polynesia, including not just Tahiti and the Society Islands (the author lives on Moorea) but also the little-discovered Austral Islands and the alluring Marquesas. Sixth edition.
We, the Navigators, The Ancient Art of Landfinding in the Pacific
by David Lewis
This engaging classic examines how Stone Age Polynesians may have navigated the Pacific. The scholarly volume will appeal to seafarers and modern Pacific travelers.
South Pacific Islands Map
by Nelles
Covering the Pacific from Pitcairn to Papua New Guinea at a scale of 13:000,000. With 30 individual island maps, including Easter Island, New Caledonia, the Solomon Islands, Marquesas, French Polynesia, Vanuatu and Fiji.
South Sea Tales
by Robert Louis Stevenson
These entertaining tales, set among both real and mythical islands, show Stevenson's keen observations of island life.
Pacific Journeys
by Peter Hendrie
A striking portfolio of 330 color photographs of the people, nature and landscape of the region, Hendrie's gorgeous book includes images from his many journeys to Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, to Tahiti and the Marquesas, Tonga, Fiji, Easter Island and Hawaii over the last 20 years.
Coral Reef Fishes
by Ewald Lieske, Robert Myers
This compact handbook features 2,500 illustrations of shallow-water fishes around the world.
Aphrodite's Island, The European Discovery of Tahiti
by Anne Salmond
Louis-Antoine de Bougainville, James Cook, Samuel Wallis and many more early European voyagers join local heroes, Tahitian warriors and kings in this authoritative, richly detailed history of French Polynesia and its allure. Author and anthropologist Anne Salmond (Two Worlds, The Trail of the Cannibal Dogs) is a professor at the University of Auckland.
Ocean Duets
by Michele Westmoreland, Sylvia Earle (Introduction)
This stunning portfolio of sea life celebrates the ocean's biodiversity with great color photographs and informative text.
The Happy Isles of Oceania
by Paul Theroux
The peripatetic author flies off to Australia and New Zealand with a kayak and ends up exploring much of Melanesia and Polynesia, including Tonga, Fiji and the Marquesas, in this wickedly funny, wide-ranging tale.