Book reviews

There have been other books that have told aspects of the story of Pacific people in New Zealand, or presented Pacific Islanders in ‘walk on’ parts in a larger history. Read More

Ian Morris systematically reviews the last 15,000 years of human history, explains the rises and falls of the development of the ‘West’ and the ‘East’, and speculates about the future through “burrowing into the detail’ and providing insightful, and often humorous observations. Read More

When the World Calls is a meticulously researched, comprehensive and very readable history of the Peace Corps from its inception under John F Kennedy through to the early days of the Obama presidency.  Read More

Former VSA volunteer Dorothy Culloty’s passion for the food of Lao PDR has been recognised at the prestigious Gourmand World Food Cookbook Awards. Read More

Michael Edwards’ book charts the rise and impact of philanthrocapitalism, examines its positive and negative impacts, and critiques the divergence from philanthropy’s original meaning as “love of mankind”. Read More

Amartya Sen’s Development as Freedom has been around for a decade, but his message is still relevant today. Read More

Travels with Herodotus was Kapuściński’s final book. In it he distils the wisdom of a lifetime of travel and observation. Throughout, his companion was Herodotus the first person to set out to record the history of the world. Read More

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a little talked about place, yet it is an exceedingly vast country with a deeply troubled past. Against all warnings, Tim Butcher, foreign correspondent for England’s The Daily Telegraph, plans and executes a journey along the river that spans the breadth of the country. Read More