Book Review: Commonwealth of Nations: The Southwest Pacific to 1900, the Southwest Pacific since 1900
| Author | Patrick C. T. White |
| Published date | 01 December 1965 |
| Date | 01 December 1965 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/002070206502000425 |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
Book
REVIEWS
553
Generally Howard
and
West tell
us
a
good
deal more about
Harold
Wilson
than
about
Home.
Much of
what
appears
to have
been Wilson's
conversation,
presumably
with
the
authors,
is
reported
in
addition
to
his
relations
with
various
politicians.
It
would
be
rash
to
say
that
the
authors
have
told
us
so
much
about
Wilson
merely
because
they
were
Labour supporters.
Another
more
substantial
reason
could
well
be
the
greater
availability
of
Wilson to
journalists
in
general
and
to
these
two
in
particular.
They
almost
say
as
much by
emphasizing
Wilson's
deliberate
cultivation
of
the
press,
in
a
manner
more American
than
British.
University
of
Wisconsin
LEON
D.
EPSTEIN
THE
SOUTHWEST
PAcm'c
•'o
1900. A
Modern
History. Australia,
New
Zealand.
By
C.
Hartley Grattan.
1963.
(Ann
Arbor: University
of
Michigan
Press. Toronto:
Ambassador.
xiv,
558pp.
$8.25)
THE
SOUTHWEST
PACIFIC
SINCE
1900.
A
Modern
History.
Australia,
New
Zealand,
The
Islands, Antarctica.
By
C.
Hartley
Grattan.
1963.
(Ann
Arbor: University
of Michigan
Press.
Toronto:
Ambassador.
x,
759pp.
$11.00)
The
task
set
C.
Hartley
Gratton
in
writing
a
two volume
history
of
the
Southwest
Pacific
was
formidable,
for
the
area
he
had
to cover
is
vast
and
the
diversity of
its
population enormous.
The
period
which
he
had
to
encompass
was equally
challenging,
for
it
extended
from
the
early
discovery
and
settlement
of
the
territories
to
the
latest
problems
facing
Australia
and
her
neighbours
in
the
twentieth
century.
It
should
be
said
at
once
that
the
author has
achieved
an
almost
un-
qualified
success.
The
volumes
are
remarkable
for their
even
quality
and
balance
and
the
style
is
notable
for
its
crisp
freshness.
It
is
no
easy
task
to
maintain
such
standards
throughout
a
study
of such
length
and
diversity
and
Gratton
is
to
be
congratulated
on his
accomplishment.
The
first
volume
is
largely
concerned
with
the
discovery,
settle-
ment,
and
development
of
Australia
and
New
Zealand.
The
desire
to
rebuild
an
Empire
shattered
by
the
American
Revolution
and the
need
to
find
new
colonies
to
which
convicts
could
be
transported
were
two
of
the
major
factors
behind
Britain's
drive
into
the
Pacific.
The
explora-
tion
of
Australasia
was
testing
and
difficult,
and
the
governing
of
these
turbulent
colonies
was equally
complicated. The
uninhibited
character
of
its
settlers
and
the
tumultuous
nature
of
the
mining and
farming
frontiers
imposed
heavy burdens
upon
the
civil
authorities.
Gratton
examines
all
these
developments
with
meticulous
care and
his
judgment
and
sketches
of
the
leading
figures
are
both
illuminating
and
just.
His
analysis
of
the
movement
for
responsible
government and
federation
as well
as
his
discussion of
the
northern
islands
is
equally
stimulating
and skillful.
He is
particularly
effective
in
explaining
economic
developments
and
constitutional
problems.
His
sections
on
the
literary
history
of
Australia
are,
perhaps,
less successful, but
here
the
nature
of
his
material
works
against
him.
Lists
of
minor
writers
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