Matthew Appleby – 08/11/02
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From Captain Cook to the Rainbow Warrior and the recent coups in Fiji, Pacific history has long fascinated Associate Professor Dr Ian Campbell (History). His attachment to, and scholarship of, the region recently gained a wider audience when a fifth country published his standard text on the Pacific Islands.
Les insulaires du Pacifique, translated into French by Jean-Paul Latouche, became the final edition of Professor Campbell’s 1989 book A History of the Pacific Islands before Canterbury University Press issues a revised version next year. The comprehensive political history has also been published in Australia, the United States, New Zealand and China.
CUP Editor Richard King is delighted Professor Campbell’s book is available in so many countries.
“For us it’s excellent and (also) for Ian as well. It’s been a good seller as the standard textbook on the region.”
Professor Campbell said he had been waiting a long time for the translation’s publication.
“France is closely involved in the Pacific. It still regards New Caledonia and French Polynesia as part of France, as much as Brittany or Provence are, and not as a colonial possession. I have wanted a French publication for years.”
The revised edition reflects an upsurge in interest in the political history of the region during the 15 years since he completed the work originally.
“When I was an undergraduate in Australia I don’t think there were any universities in the world teaching any Pacific history. The Pacific was academically unknown in those days (the 1960s). It was not politically important, the tourist industry hadn’t developed and it didn’t feature in the public consciousness at all.”
