This travel book on Samoa is full of information to help one maximize a trip to Somoa. It has some great descriptions of Samoan history and places of interest. I am worried though. I am worried that if ever go to Samoa I will not know how to properly act. The author of this travelogue time and time again warns the reader about Samoan cultural mores which should be followed. But I am afraid I will forget some of them and be a shameful traveler.

This book has everything you need to know when travelling to Samoa. Nothing is missed and you should be able to plan a long or short stay in Samoa. Everything is as described in the book and nothing is really out of date. The only problem is that some of the maps lack detail to be useful, however quality maps are available in Apia.

This book is PACKED with information! It is also a really great size (smallish) to tuck in my travel bag and take along to be sure not to miss anything on my first trip to Samoa. :o)

I saw this book first time in Apia, the capitol city of Samoa. It was the hard copy edition presented in the show case of the Rainforest Restaurant, whose owners were two historians working passionately on the creation of a small museum of Samoan Art and Culture for Samoa. I was astonished about the amount of details in this book. The more astonished I was as I saw that well situated Samoans were visiting the Swiss/German couple to consult this book regarding their genealogy and heritage, which might be as well in the traditional Samoan ruling nobility or even... divine!

For a contemporary reader Krämer's book might be a difficult lecture though. Krämer puts together facts and legends. Parts of the text are written in Samoan and I could not find out any specific rule for the switching between the German and Samoan languages. The translator of the book, Dr. Verhaaren, remarks in his foreword that Krämer was somewhat inconsistent in his spelling of Samoan words. In my opinion Krämer created a great documentary, but he was not a good writer. The great amount of details, which Krämer often calls by himself just a hearsay, have probably a great value for scholars or lovers of Polynesian mystique, but they might only confuse casual reader. Nevertheless he seems to be very careful about differentiation between facts and rumors.

One of the interesting aspects of this book are the details about the travels, marriages and wars between Samoans, Tongans and even the Melanesian Fijians. Many contemporary families on Samoa know through these reports that their heritage reaches hundreds of miles apart from Samoa. There was a good reason that Samoa became the name "Navigator Islands" after being discovered by the Europeans. Unfortunately, the contemporary Islanders lost solely their ability to navigate on the open Ocean over such distances.

The book contains a large number of beautiful photographs of Samoan people and of the entire Samoa from the colonial period of time as the Great Britain, USA and Germany were all friendly nations "negotiating" their spheres of influence in the Pacific. As you might know, Samoa is still a divided country and the American sponsored government in Pago Pago tries to deepen the differences between the Samoans on the neighboring Islands to prevent a reunification. It is fascinating to see the Samoa as one entity through Krämer's witness document of the past time.

This book is a fascinating "must have" collectible for passionate off road traveler and everyone else looking for the island nostalgia. The publisher, Hawaii Press, made a great effort to provide a splendid quality of typesetting and of print. The price is right. Get this book!

This is a comprehensive and interesting exposition on the history of Samoa.

It is a privilege that it is now available in English so that the information can be more widely read.

Talofa Lava
This book by Galumalemana Afeleti L. Hunkin (a University professor for Samoan Language in Wellington, New Zealand) is perfect if you want to learn the Samoan Language. With lots of exercises and good explanations it makes learning the language easy and enjoyable.
I recommend to order the audio cassette with it. It is useful to hear native speakers who know how to pronounce their words...

I found the guide to be "to the point" informative without overburdening the reader with useless commentary. The clear and precise photos are well chosen to show samples of what to expect in each park. The "National Geographic" maps are simple and easy to read showing park highlights along with well-defined topography, but again, without overburdening the reader with too much detail. These guides are especially good for travel planning when time is of the utmost and there is only a short window with which to enjoy the park(s).

This is one of my all-time favorite books! Those who have read and loved RLS' requiem:

"Under the wide and starry sky,
Dig the grave and let me lie.
Glad did I live and gladly die
And I laid me down with a will.

This be the verse you grave for me:
Here he lies where he longed to be
Home is the sailor, home from the sea,
And the hunter home from the hill."

will love this novelized recreation of Stevenson's last years in Samoa.

As the author of Tonga-Samoa Handbook, I've used James A. Bier's map of the Samoas many times to check dubious place name spellings or to verify geographical information. The detailed index makes finding places a breeze and the drawing is amazingly clear. I recommend this map highly.

The is a most important book because it sets the record straign about Margaret Mead. Her book on Samoa created a false understanding of primitive peoples. She went to Samoa to do her PhD dissertation and came back with a myth that supported the prejudices and biases of her graduate advisor, Franz Boas. She purportedly discovered that the Samoans were the personification of Jean Jacque Roussoue's "Noble Savage." There were unspoiled by the vices of Western Civilization. The biggest vice was supposedly the West's repressive sexuality that gave rise to social aggression of various kinds. Derek Freeman blows all of this out of the water. He points out among other things that Mean did not know the language and stayed there only a few weeks. This does not come up to the standards of methodology that anthropologists have come to accept to accurately understand and describe a culture.

Few Americans know that the United States still owns a relic from the Age of Colonialism below the Equator, and that this "possession" is not faring so well after 101 years of benign neglect. Congressman Faleomavaega is a gifted writer. Few people could cram quite so much information into 142 pages and still have the result highly readable. But it's not a happy story when for 51 years the proud people of American Samoa had their Governor appointed by the US Navy, and then for another 26 years their Governor was always a personal friend of the Secretary of the Interior. Yet the author is basically an optimistic person, and he continually cites the many accomplishments of Asian and Pacific Island Americans, and the success of local initiatives in agricultural development, commercial policy, and educational achievement.

I was really surprised that a Member of Congress could endorse the pagan and gruesome Ritual of the Tatau. The current medical literature suggests that severe physical punishments during initiation rites can be life threatening. And then after such a persuasive plea for Americans to take Pacific policy seriously, the Congressman asks for only half a loaf. After 101 years of being required to be Americans, the people of American Samoa deserve Commonwealth or Statehood status. If their price for joining the Union is permanent protection of the Samoan tradition of communal property ownership, it is doubtful that very many Americans would object.

First I must say that I am not saying that ethnobotany is boring. I am just saying it seems boring to me and it might to others, but even if you know nothing of botany and have little interest in it you will find great interest in this book. It is a fascinating narrative and Paul brings you into the Samoan world as well as a palagi really can.

I had a chance to hear Paul Cox speak and he talked about how the rainforest became his mother. The book starts with the death of his mother by cancer. He travels to Samoa to search for a possible cure in the rain forest, his quest however becomes to save the rainforest from the forces of globalization. I think the most compelling issue of this book is the positive and negative aspects of western scholarship when it comes in touch with another land and culture.

Paul is a very good storyteller and makes you want to continue reading.

This unique and fascinating book by Dr. Cox has important implications for development practitioners and academics interested in political ecology as well as ethnobotanists. The challenges faced by the people of Falealupo village in choosing between preserving their forest or building a school for their children are typical of the environmental trade-offs that many people in developing countries feel compelled to make simply to achieve, by our standards, a minimally acceptable standard of living. The solution presented by Dr. Cox, in which social networks are built such that people willing to invest in the preservation of ecosystems are put into direct contact with those people overseeing these ecosystems (without government or NGO intervention) has important lessons for people interested in promoting "Conservation-with-Development" approaches to economic development. This text also illustrates the complex ways that the human imprint on ecosystems is embedded in power-laden social networks and that change involves contestation and negotiation of power within these networks. This book thus holds important insights for those interested in political ecology. (For those interested in these topics, Dr. Cox's contribution to People, Plants and Justice - Charles Zerner, ed., Cambridge University Press, 2000 - makes an informative companion-piece to Nafanua.)

Finally, as a person who has lived in Samoa for several years as a volunteer teacher and as someone who conducts ecological research there, I find Dr. Cox's presentation of the people of Samoa, shown from a more personalized perspective rather than an academic one, to be open, honest and fair. He avoids falling into the trap of romanticizing or essentializing the people as "ecologically noble savages" that live in perfect harmony with their environment that has become so common in depictions of indigenous peoples in the popular media. When I read the book, I often saw the Samoa that I knew from my own personal experience.

This was an outstanding work. I am a palagi who has been married to a Samoan woman for 9 years and have had extensive dealings with Samoans for 14 years. We visited Western Samoa in 1988, so I have seen the culture first-hand, as well as my state-side exposure with Samoan American organizations. I could almost see myself interacting with the people as he related his accounts... although my 50 or so word Samoan vocabulary can't be compared with the author. He truly captures the essence of Samoa and its people.

i would like to order a book that is telling all old samoan stories and customs and the faasamoa in the samoan language..

I used the Moon guidebook to Tonga and Samoa during a 3 1/2 week trip to the South Pacific in early 2001. I found the book very useful because it covers Tonga and Samoa in one condensed book. There are enough details to travel on both island groups for a couple of weeks and not missing information in this great guidebook. The book is still quite accurate there is enough details for each spot you will visit on your trip. In general this book has helped me a lot to find my way around the islands with detailed maps and a wide range of unbiased information.

As president of Sea for Yourself snorkeling tours, I'm obligated on behalf of my clients, to stay informed about the destinations we visit. Although we've been operating programs in Tonga for many years that allow snorkelers to actually swim with humpback whales, we keep a copy of David's Tonga/Samoa Handbook in the office in order to answer questions from clients about areas other than Tonga. In addition to Tonga, this book has extensive coverage of Samoa, American Samoa, and Niue.

In this book, the reader will find all the practical info (that continues to distinguish all of David's books) including travel tips, accommodations, meals, etc. I also appreciate the special attention given to cultural background, political and economic elements, and particular vignettes (such as the explanations of coral reef ecology and the palolo worm). However, the sections I personally find most useful include the pages on Internet sites, email addresses, and the bibliography.

I started using David's books (South Pacific Handbook) in 1982, and they have always been valuable and trusted travel companions. We always take this book with us on our programs to Tonga because it makes a useful reference for both staff and participants. Plus, since this book is easily available, I'm always happy to refer our clients to David's Tonga/Samoa Handbook when they are seeking to purchase a single accurate source of both practical and background information about this section of the Pacific.