{ "item_title" : "Across Papua", "item_author" : [" Colonel Kenneth MacKay "], "item_description" : "Where does exploration end and colonial power begin? Across Papua's coasts, islands and mountain interior, a commissioner records a territory being measured not only by distance and resources, but by competing ideas of authority, independence and progress. His first-person account follows a Royal Commission voyage and an overland crossing of the Owen Stanley Range, bringing the demands of expedition travel into direct contact with questions of government, commerce and customary life. Eyewitness reportage gives the narrative its immediacy, while official investigation broadens its scope beyond personal adventure. Government posts, missions, plantations, mining fields and villages become points from which to examine policing, labour, agriculture and administration. Difficult terrain and tropical disease shape the journey, yet the deeper tension lies in the encounter between European plans for development and indigenous customs. Economic opportunity is repeatedly shadowed by the possibility of exploitation, and colonial authority is set against local independence without reducing the territory to a simple tale of conquest. Landscape description, natural history and social observation sit alongside extracts from official evidence, creating an unusual record of travel conducted with an investigative purpose. The author observes institutions and environments as closely as routes and hardships, making this both an expedition memoir and a document of colonial exploration. Its shifting perspective-from coast and island to mountain country, from natural resources to human consequences-captures a region under scrutiny and the assumptions of those seeking to shape its future. This book was out of print for decades and is now republished by Alpha Editions. It has been restored for today's and future generations. This edition is not just a reprint - it's a collector's item and a cultural treasure.", "item_img_path" : "https://covers4.booksamillion.com/covers/bam/9/37/841/960/9378419607_b.jpg", "price_data" : { "retail_price" : "19.99", "online_price" : "19.99", "our_price" : "19.99", "club_price" : "19.99", "savings_pct" : "0", "savings_amt" : "0.00", "club_savings_pct" : "0", "club_savings_amt" : "0.00", "discount_pct" : "10", "store_price" : "" } }

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