Overview

This book follows the lives of three families that came to the 'Territory' of Papua and New Guinea. A Chinese family, a Dutch family and a British family. It describes the traumatic effects of the Japanese occupation isolating the Chinese family on a small island of the coast of Wewak for three years. Likewise, Soekarno's saber-rattling abruptly ended the idyllic lifestyle of a Dutch family in Merauke in Dutch New Guinea in 1962, causing them to flee to Port Moresby. They carved out a living building roads and airstrips in places like Misima and Bougainville. The British family disillusioned with their lives and careers in Peterborough looked for 'paradise' and found it in PNG working in education and experiencing the best and worst times. The result is a fascinating book about times in Papua and New Guinea that were exciting, full of challenges and situations that were tackled in a uniquely PNG way. Cultural aspects of the Asmat headhunters in Dutch New Guinea and a detailed analysis of Michael Rockefeller's disappearance in 1961, through life witnesses, adds spice to the story. We get a close up view of village life on Kairiru island near Wewak. The stories are set against a historical background. This helps explain attitudes and situations surrounding the three families at the time. It makes for fascinating reading. For those who have lived in Dutch New Guinea before annexation in the Indonesian Republic and Papua New Guinea before independence was granted this will bring back memories, good and bad.

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9780645522006

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