Further Reading about the Cook Islands
Biographies
An Island to Oneself Tom Neale 1966 Collins, London Autobiography of hermit's stay on Suwarrow (Detailed, a little dull). Doctor to the Islands Tom and Lydia Davis 1954. Bost., Little, Brown Autobiography (Thorough, interesting) Isles of the Frigate Bird Ronald Syme 1975 Michael Joseph Ltd, London. Autobiography (Expatriate Brit, interesting) Island Boy Tom Davis 1992. Institute of Pacific Studies Autobiography (Authentic, interesting) Miss Ulysses from Pukapuka Johnny Frisbie 1948. Autobiography Sir Albert Henry Kathleen Hancock 1979 Methuen Publications NZ, Auckland. Biography (Politics, history) South Seas Paradise Julian Hillas (aka Julian Dashwood) 1965 Robert Hale Ltd, London. Autobiography
(Quirky, opinionated, amusing) The Frisbies of the South Seas Johnny Frisbie 1961. Robert Hale Ltd, London. Autobiography (Robert Frisbie's daughter's memoirs) The Lagoon is Lonely Now Ronald Syme 1978. Millwood Press Ltd, Wellington. Autobiography (Expatriate Brit's lament) Wild Life Among the Pacific Islanders E.H. Lamont 1867. 1994 Institute of Pacific Studies, University of the South Pacific, Rarotonga and the Tongareva Community and Development Trust, Penrhyn. Autobiography (Detailed, interesting)
(Quirky, opinionated, amusing)
Non-fiction
Agriculture in the Cook Islands - New Directions Saifullah Syed and Ngatokorua Mataio 1993. Institute of Pacific Studies and the Cook Islands Centre, University of the South Pacific. Reference. Ancestral Voices from Mangaia Michael P.J. Reilly 2009. The Polynesian Society (Inc), Auckland. History of ancient gods and chiefs. Ancient Polynesian Society Irving Goldman 1970. University of Chicago Press, Chicago Reference An Archaeological Survey of Pukapuka Atoll Masashi Chikamori and Shunji Yoshida 1985. Dept of Archaeology and Ethnology, Keio University, Tokyo, Japan. Reference. (Scholarly) Cook Islands Cook Book Taiora Matenga-Smith Institute of Pacific Studies, USP & Ministries of Agriculture and Health 1990. Recipes for traditional Cook Islands dishes Cook Islands Culture Ron and Marjorie Crocombe (editors) Institute of Pacific Studies and the Cook Islands Centre, University of the South Pacific. Large list of heavyweight contributors. A must read for serious students of Cook Islands history and culture. Cook Islands Drums Jon Jonassen Ministry of Cultural Development, Rarotonga 1991 Cook Islands Legends Jon Jonassen Institute of Pacific Studies and University of the South Pacific 1981 Discoverers of the Cook Islands & The Names They Gave Alphons M.J. Klosterman 1976. Cook Islands Library and Museum, Rarotonga. Reference (Detailed, scholarly) From Darkness to Light in Polynesia Rev. William Gill 1894. The Religious Tract Society, London. Reference (Missionary position) Geology of Rarotonga and Atiu Patrick Marshall 1930. B.P. Bishop Museum, Honolulu Reference Guide to Cook Islands Birds D.T. Holyoak 1980. Cook Islands Library and Museum 1980. Reference Historical Sketches of Savage Life in Polynesia Rev. William Gill 1880. Government Printer, Wellington. Clan songs - reference History of Rarotonga Taira Rere 1982. Islands of Danger E. Beaglehole 1944. Progressive Publishing Society, Wellington. Reference Making History - Pukapukan and Anthropological Constructions of Knowledge
Robert Borofsky 1987. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. Reference Manakonako - Reflections Kauraka Kauraka 1991. Centre for Pacific Studies, University of Auckland and University of the South Pacific. Mangaia and the Mission Sir Peter Buck 1934, ed. by R. Dixon and T. Parima 1993. Institute of Pacific Studies, University of the South Pacific, Suva. Reference Material Culture of the Cook Islands (Aitutaki), The Sir Peter Buck 1927. The Board of Maori Ethnological Research Reference Nation and Destination: Creating Cook Islands Identity Jeffrey Sissons 1999. Institute of Pacific Studies, University of the South Pacific, Suva. Reference Prehistory of the Southern Cook Islands Michael M. Trotter 1974. Canterbury Museum Trust Board, Christchurch. Archaeological reference work New Politics in the South Pacific - Essays 1994. Institute of Pacific Studies, University of the South Pacific. Essay on Cook Is People of the Cook Islands -- Past and Present Ed. by Kazumichi Katayama and Akira Tagaya 1988. Osaka City University Medical School and Cook Islands Library and Museum Society, Rarotonga. Sisters in the Sun - The Story of Suwarrow and Palmerston Atolls A.S. Helm and W.H. Percival 1973. Robert Hale and Co, London. Suwarrow Gold & Other Stories of the Great South Sea James Cowan 1936. Jonathan Cape, London. (Treasure, history) The Cook Islands Ewan Smith (text by Graeme Lay) 1998. Island Image, Rarotonga. Coffee table book,photographs, essays (Recommended) The Citrus Colony Michael Bellam 1981 New Zealand Coalition for Trade and Development, Wellington. The Cook Islands 1820-1950 Richard Gilson 1980. 1991 Victoria University Press and Institute of Pacific Studies, University of the South Pacific. Reference (Detailed, thorough) The Pacific Islands Douglas L. Oliver 1951. University Press of Hawaii, Honolulu. Reference (Interesting, non PC) The World of the Polynesians Antony Alpers 1970. 1987 Oxford University Press, Auckland. Reference (Detailed, scholarly, interesting) The Art of Tivaevae: Traditional Cook Islands Quilting Lynnsay Rongokea. Godwit, New Zealand. Virtual reprint of earlier 1992 book. Reference (Detailed, thorough) Today is Forever Julian Hillas (aka Julian Dashwood) 1964. Doubleday, New York. Visions of the Pacific Ed. David Arnell & Lisette Wolk 1993. Cook Islands Ministry of Cultural Development, Rarotonga. Reference (Pictorial tour) Weavers of Song Mervyn McLean 1999. Auckland University Press, Auckland. Reference. Polynesian music and dance. (Detailed, scholarly) White Savages in the South Seas Mel Kernahan 1995. Verso, London and New York Travelogue, Aitutaki, Rarotonga, Mauke. Dated. Years of the Pooh-Bah Dick Scott 1991. Cook Islands Trading Corporation and Hodder and Stoughton, Auckland. History (A class act, thorough)
Travel
Cook Islands Companion Elliot Smith 1994 Pacific Publishing Co Cook Islands - A Guide Norman and Ngaire Douglas 1987. Creative Associates, Sydney Faery Lands of the South Seas James Norman Hall 1921. Harper & Bros, New York Some chapters on Mauke and Rarotonga How to Get Lost and Found in the Cook Islands John W. McDermott 1979. Waikiki Publishing Co Inc, Honolulu. In The Strange South Seas Beatrice Grimshaw 1908 1971 Books for Libraries Press, New York. (Weird, dubious, a curiosity) Rarotonga James Siers 1977. Millwood Press Ltd, Wellington. A pictorial essay of Rarotonga and Aitutaki. (Dated) Rarotonga's Mountain Tracks and Plants - A Field Guide Gerald McCormack and Judith Künzlé 1995. Cook Islands Natural Heritage Project, Rarotonga. (Thorough, recommended) The Happy Isles of Oceania Paul Theroux 1992. Penguin Books Ltd, London. (Short section on Aitutaki)