Pacific Empires

A new interest in European maritime exploration was aroused with thepublication of the first volume of J.C. Beaglehole's edition of TheJournals of Captain James Cook in 1955. In the forty-odd years sincethen, our knowledge of this exploration -- and of the imperialism ofwhich it was a part -- has expanded enormously.

We now recognise that the scientific endeavours, once seen asdisinterested manifestations of the Enlightenment, actually had bothstrategic and commercial implications. And today much greater emphasisis given to the meanings of early encounters for both the Natives ofthe Pacific islands and the Strangers from the European world.

Glyndwr Williams has played a leading role in the development ofthese new insights. Always at the forefront of new historiographicaldevelopments, his interests range from North America to the Pacific toAsia, encompassing historical, geographical, cartographical,ethnographic, artistic, and literary perspectives.

In addition to his own mature overview of British maritimeexploration, Pacific Empires offers stimulating contributionsby a number of Williams' colleagues, all authorities in theirrespective fields. They cover such themes as science and expansion, andculture contact in North American and the Pacific, and they reflect onthe nature of history and historiography. Glyndwr Williams hasprofoundly influenced the development of new understandings of Europeanexploration and imperialism. Pacific Empires is a fittingtribute to his achievements and to the esteem in which his colleagueshold him. It is also a timely examination of historical understandingsat the end of the twentieth century